Every time I make beans and rice, I can’t help but think of this. (Surprised?)
Whipping up a batch of beans ‘n’ rice is so easy and make awesome leftovers to take in your packed lunch. Today, I opened up my thermos and all my friends started exclaiming how good it smelled!
Today’s lunchbox consisted of the aforementioned beans ‘n’ rice, a tasty salad, and of course my wonderful $2 reusable water bottle plastered with Herbivore stickers (okay, you can only see one in this picture but there’s one on the other side too).
I almost never pack salads, but I don’t know why because they’re so easy and healthy! Seriously, I whipped this up last minute before leaving the house just for you, MoFo. It took about 4 minutes. This is my favorite salad to make (when I actually do so). It consists of baby spinach, bell pepper, tomato, avocado, black olives, and salsa. I had 2 lonesome pieces of smoked tofu leftover from last week so I threw those right on top.
I love this Thermos! I started off the school year without it, and kept complaining that I didn’t have a proper container for soups or other warm foods so my dad bought me one. Unfortunately it doesn’t make for very photogenic food porn, but you get the idea!
I also love this recipe for beans ‘n’ rice. I threw it together on a whim a few weeks ago, and it was so amazing I couldn’t stop eating it! The secret is really in the liquid smoke which adds a nice depth of flavor. The wine does too, but if you don’t have any it’s ok to leave it out.
Funny story about the wine in this recipe, actually. I was talking to my mom (who is omni and not big on cooking, but has been trying out a LOT more vegan recipes lately–go Mom!!) about wishing I had vegan sausage because upon taking a quick glance of recipes online I saw a lot of Louisiana-style beans ‘n’ rice recipes calling for sausage and that sounded good to me. Turns out, right before I walked in she had been reading (I forget in which book) that suggested adding wine to recipes that called for sausage, in place of the sausage. Weird, but it sounded good and we had wine so voila!
So So Vegan Beans ‘n’ Rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, sliced thinly
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 (15-oz) can tomatoes (crushed, diced, it doesn’t matter)
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/4 cup wine *or* 2 tablespoons Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or tamari sauce
1 cup cooked rice (I use long grain brown)
In a cast iron pan over medium heat, saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and saute for about a minute. Add spices and tomatoes and stir. Mix in the beans. Add liquid smoke and wine or Bragg’s and stir. Cook on medium-low until much of the liquid is evaporated (about 5 more minutes). Mix in the rice.
Optional: If you happen to have some faux meat (sausages, pepperoni, etc) you’re trying to use up, chop it up and throw it in! The beans ‘n’ rice pictured has some chopped up vegan pepperoni leftover from my pizzas mixed in.
