Monday, January 6, 2014

Meatless Monday

This is my first installment of our new adventure in "meatless Mondays", Kyle was pretty against this idea but after tonight I think he's not so scared anymore.  He's such a carnivore.  I am trying this out for our family as a way to break up my regular, tried and true, recipes and add some new proteins and veggies to our regular diet.  Plus beans are cheaper than beef and chicken anyway.

On the menu tonight were black bean enchiladas and homemade Spanish rice.  I got the enchilada recipe from allrecipes.com but I had to modify a little based on the time I had tonight. I did not plan ahead today!  It was delicious anyway though. The cream cheese!  I am kind of known for hiding pureed vegetables in my recipes and I think this is definitely one that would work very well in, I'm going to try some cauliflower or squash next time around.


(I forgot the avocados but it was still yummy!)

My rice recipe is pretty great too, I stole it from my mom who I believe stole it from someone else, but I take some short cuts.  Here is how it's done.

Spanish Rice
1 cup white rice
1 tbs butter
Minced garlic (to preference)
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 green pepper chopped
1 can diced tomatoes (I really like to use the ones with green chilies but my boy does not like spicy)
1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable or you can just do both liquid cups as water)
Cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper to taste (I have just been using a few sprinkles of a taco seasoning packet because my boy HATES spicy and I tend to be a little heavy handed when seasoning)


  • In a large pan brown your rice in melted butter.  
  • Add garlic and saute for about 1 minute and add onions, saute until fragrant and add your green peppers.
  • Open your tomatoes and drain into your 1 cup measuring cup.  Add water to fill to 1 cup and pour it in the pan.  This is where you can choose to use the broth or another cup of water. So you will have 2 cups of liquid total. 
  • Add the tomatoes and seasonings.
  • Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender.  


Voila! Super easy and super delicious!  You could even make it a whole meal by adding in some beans and corn and topping with cheese.  Yum!

Keep an eye out for next weeks Meatless Monday post, we are having lasagna roll ups!  I may need some inspiration after these first few weeks.  What are you favorite meatless meals? 





  

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