auntiemeesh | (no subject)

I meant to cook up some rice and beans yesterday but I was hungry when I got home so I ended up just eating a sandwich and chips, and then got distracted by other things. So I'm doing it tonight.

Rice and Bean Thing:

2 cups of rice (most of which will be put aside for later in the week)
1/4 large onion
1/4 green pepper
1 clove garlic
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can diced tomatoes, mostly drained
1/2 tbsp of cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I may have used a bit more or less than that - I was using a 1/2 tsp spoon)
dash of salt

I've got the rice mostly done in my big sauce pan.
I sauteed the onion, pepper and garlic (man, my kitchen smells like someone who knows how to cook is in there) and added it all to the can of black beans in my small sauce pan. Added in the spices and diced tomatoes and now it's all simmering together to let the flavors blend.

As with all of my cooking projects, this is a very big experiment. I got most of it off a Spanish Rice recipe, but I'm not cooking it like spanish rice. I have no idea how it will taste, but hopefully it will be edible, because I'm starving!

Update: Well, it's not awful, that's the good side. I maybe shouldn't have drained the tomatoes at all, as it was a little dry once combined with the jasmine rice. It was also just a little bit bland. Needs more of the spices to perk it up a bit. But it was good enough to take the leftovers to work tomorrow and that's a huge perk!

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Cooking is often experimental. I'm glad you gave it a try and that it didn't turn out too bad. :)

Live and learn!
=D

I should probably take a cooking course or something, someday, just to learn the basics and get a better understanding of how it all works. Or else buy a cookbook at least.

As long as I can eat the results, I'm not too bothered.

I'm sorry your rice and beans didn't turn out quite as planned. As you know, I think you cannot go wrond by throwing a few tablespoons more of the spices! I hope that by lunchtime today the flavors will have blended a bit more and it will be more tasty than it was last night.

I agree with ANM. I was going to say that you could add some more spices for the leftovers too. It sounds pretty good though. I would also say never drain the tomatoes. You can always cook it down if it is too liquidy.

It wasn't that it tasted bad, just a little bland. Next time I'll certainly add more of the spices.

I partially drained the tomatoes because I have very little patience with cooking things down, lol. I'm usually already starving by the time I get home from work, so I don't want to have to wait any longer than necessary to get some food in my belly.