Brown Rice and Black Beans - from Real Simple Magazine

I clipped this recipe out of Real Simple over a year ago, but didn’t use it until last night. To make it more filling, I also created a "Mexican pulled chicken" of sorts and threw that on top. Depending on what you top it with, it can be more or less healthy (ahh sour cream).

For the Beans:
8 cups water
1 lb dried black beans, picked over, rinsed, and drained
1 jalapeno chili, halved and seeded
2 medium onions, quartered
5 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Rice:
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups long-grain brown rice
3 ½ cups water

1. Make the beans: Bring water, beans, jalapeno, onions, garlic, vinegar, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon pepper to a simmer in a medium pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about 1 ½ hours. Season with more salt and pepper if desired.
2. Meanwhile, make the rice: Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Cook onion and garlic until onion is soft, about 5 minutes, Add 2 teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and the rice. Cook until rice is slightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Add water, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, and gently simmer, covered, until rice absorbs water, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and season with salt and pepper.

And this is the Crock Pot Mexican Chicken I kind of just made up (Sorry that I didn’t measure the ingredients – I didn’t expect it to turn out as great as it did, otherwise I may have written them down):
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (still frozen)
Dash of cumin
Big dash chili powder
Even bigger dash of garlic powder
Salt
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
Oregano
Cilantro flakes
About ½ cup of your favorite salsa
1. Throw it all in a crock pot. Cook on high for about 4 to 4 ½ hours. Shred with a fork.

Now, grab a bowl and get ready for some goodness! Put beans and chicken on top of a bed of rice, and top with: Salsa, Sour Cream, Fresh Cilantro, Avocado, or anything else you like!

P.S. Just had leftovers for lunch – its so good I didn’t even have to heat it up!