Black Beans and Rice

Happy Nom Nom Monday! Today's recipe is a simple Black Beans and Rice.  This recipe is extra healthy and vegetarian.  Though adding meat tastes great too.  

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil

- 1/2 cup onion

- 1/4 cup green pepper

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 1 can of black beans (15 oz.)

- 3/4 cup water

- 1 teaspoon dried oregano

- 1/4 teaspoon sugar

- 1 package of sazon goya

- 1 tablespoon cooking wine

- 2 cups cooked white rice

Directions:

Cook a cup of dry white rice in 2 cups of water, and set aside.  Dice the onion, cube the pepper, and mince the garlic.  Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan, and sauté the onion, green pepper, and garlic.  Cook until the onions are translucent, about 8 - 10 minutes.

Add in the beans, cooked rice, water, oregano, sugar, sazon goya, and cooking wine.  

This is sazon goya if you are unfamiliar, and in the above photo the bright orange stuff is what it looks like.  

Mix it all together, and let everything cook together for a couple minutes, and then serve.  

This is a giant batch, so it lasts awhile for my husband and I.  To mix it up I cooked up come cubed chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin.  The flavors melded perfectly with the black beans and rice.  I want to try this out with sausage next time.  Obviously I'm a big meat fan, but I love that this is also a great vegetarian meal.  It might even be vegan, but I'm not sure if the sazon goya has any animal by-products in it.  I'm sure if it does you could replace with other seasonings for a vegan meal.  Hope you all enjoy, happy Nom Nom Monday, chris!

Spinach Pasta Bake

Happy Nom Nom Monday!  Today I'm sharing  a recipe I found for a Spinach Pasta Bake.  A long while ago I bought In the Kitchen with America's Favorite Brand Name Recipes from a thrift store, and every once and awhile I'll break it out for a recipe.  Though I'm not a brand name kinda person, so I rarely use exactly what the recipe calls out for.  Either way I get yummy results.  

Ingredients:

- 8 ounces of spinach fettuccine

- 1 tablespoon of butter

- 1 cup fresh mushroom 

- 1 green onion

- 1 clove of garlic

- 4 to 5 cups fresh spinach

- 1 tablespoon water

- 15 ounces of nonfat ricotta cheese

- 1/4 cup milk

- 1 egg

- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

- 1/4 cup shredded Gruyére cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Begin cooking the pasta according to the package instructions.  Drain and set aside.  

Slice the mushrooms, green onion, and mince the garlic.  Heat a medium sized skillet with the butter in it.  Add the mushrooms, green onion, and garlic, and cook until the mushrooms are tender.  

Roughly chop the spinach, and add it to the skillet with the water.  Cook until the spinach is wilted, about three minutes.  

In a bowl mix together the ricotta cheese, milk, egg, nutmeg, and black pepper.  Then stir in the veggies, and the noodles.  After everything has been throughly mixed pour into a buttered 8" x 8" pan.  

Cover with shredded Gruyére cheese.  The recipe in the book called for Swiss, but we had some gruyére we needed to use.  We thought it was a terrific substitute.  Bake the dish for 25 to 30 minutes.

This dish had great flavor.  I will definitely be making this again.  I've been looking for ways to get more spinach and mushrooms into my diet, and this is right up my ally.  Fantastic vegetarian meal.  

Enjoy Nom Nom Monday, chris!