Last-Minute Mexican Rice & Beans
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We have all had those nights when you don’t have anything ready and need to get dinner on the table ASAP. When this happens, you need a back-up plan.
Here’s one of my favorites — Mexican Rice & Beans. This is an easy recipe to throw together at the last minute. And it’s very nutrient-dense.
Last-Minute Mexican Rice & Beans
Ingredients:
Rice (ideally brown rice, organic if possible)
Frozen homemade chicken broth (homemade if possible; if not, use packaged organic chicken broth)
Canned beans (black or pinto, organic if possible)
Grass-fed butter (raw if possible)
Lacto-fermented salsa (for sources of lacto-fermented salsa, see my resources page)
Leftover roasted grass-fed beef or chicken (for sources of grass-fed beef, see my resources page)
Avocado (optional)
Sour cream or creme fraiche (optional — to make sour cream, just leave raw cream sitting out in a warm place overnight)
Sea salt
Equipment:
Rice cooker (I love my Zojirushi)
1. Make your rice according to the directions on your rice cooker (or you can do it the old fashioned way — but it’s a lot easier with a rice cooker). The only change you should make is to subsititue chicken stock for the water. This will greatly boost the nutrient content of the meal.
If you are using brown rice, you will need to let it cook longer — so you may want to use white rice if you’re short on time. Not as nutrient dense, but the chicken broth will help matters.
2. Warm the canned beans in a saucepan. Add a little chicken broth and let it cook down. Add sea salt to taste.
3. If you are using roasted beef or chicken, warm it up in a saucepan.
4. Grate some cheese (fastest way is in a food processor).
5. When the beans and rice are done, add some butter to the rice (to taste) and then layer the rice, then the beans, then the roasted meat in bowls.
6. Sprinkle grated cheese on top.
7. Serve with lacto-fermented salsa and/or sour cream and/or avocado.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, hosted this week at Kelly the Kitchen Kop. To see more Healthy Fast Food Ideas (and to submit your own), check out Kelly the Kitchen Kop!
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21/01/2009 at 3:37 am Permalink
Hubby LOVES rice & beans. That looks great.
Seeing your photos of kerrygold butter and cheese reminds me of when I went to Ireland about 3 years ago. This was before I had read NT or knew about the differences between grass fed and conventional dairy and meat. I went with my dad and kept telling him it was the best dairy and meat I had ever eaten. They would serve scones with butter and cream for breakfast. I would eat small containers of yogurt with lunch. I ordered steak for dinner. It was all fantastic and so rich and dreamy. Now I know why – it was all grass fed. Everywhere you went, out of the city, people had cows in their front yards (and I’m not exaggerating).
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21/01/2009 at 4:31 am Permalink
Great idea, and it’s stuff we always have on hand! Especially that block of cheese from Costco. Gotta love Costco!
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21/01/2009 at 6:19 am Permalink
Shannon –
I went to Scotland a few years ago. We drove out into the country and the road kept getting narrower and narrower. At one point it got so narrow we had to stop until the sheep got out of the way so we could keep going.
That night, we were at a little pub drinking whiskey and there was a guy singing folk songs. Everyone knew the words and they were all singing along. There was even a song about the roads that get narrow and how you have to wait for the sheep!
If you want to see a wonderful movie (one of my top 10 all-time favorites), rent “Local Hero”. It’s set in a small town in Scotland. Just wonderful. I remember there is a scene in that film where they are driving on one of those narrow roads and they have to stop because of the fog.
I really really love Scotland. I have never been to Ireland but I would like to go. People really don’t think of Great Britain as having wonderful food but they do! We had the most delicious local salmon in Scotland. And of course I had haggis which I totally loved!
I’m going to make haggis this year. I just found out that one of the farmers at our farmer’s market is going to start selling lamb in March — and she said she thinks I might be able to get me a sheep’s stomach. Woo hoo! Even if I can’t get the stomach, I’ll use natural sausage casing.
21/01/2009 at 6:58 am Permalink
“Woohoo, I might get a sheep’s stomach!”
I don’t know if I’ll ever be heard saying those words, but I never thought I’d be so excited about sprouted grains or raw milk, either! LOL!
Hey, this recipe sounds so delicious and nourishing! Thanks, Ann Marie!
Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s last blog post..REAL FOOD WEDNESDAYS: Share YOUR Healthy Fast Food Ideas!
21/01/2009 at 7:07 am Permalink
You should have seen the looks I got from other shoppers at the farmer’s market. When the lady told me I could buy 1/2 or 1/4 of a lamb, I said,
“Does that include the organs? Can I buy the organs separately? How about a stomach — can I get that?”
The people standing there looked at me like, “Ohhhhh Kay, lady…”
Ha!
After that we went and ate our oysters for breakfast. Kate eats a raw oyster every Sat morning now. And it’s funny — a small crowd always gathers to watch her do it. They can’t believe a toddler would eat a raw oyster.
21/01/2009 at 7:12 am Permalink
You are hilarious! I wish I could’ve seen that. My family thinks I’m a freak just because we don’t go to McDonalds! (Sad, huh?)
21/01/2009 at 12:41 pm Permalink
Sounds very good. Wish i had read it last night – our pantry’s so empty since the vacation. But since we needed SOMETHING outside carpaccio (it’s always funny to watch our 3 year old wolf down raw meat), we did something else cool with beans:
1 can Kidney Beans
Green Onions and Raw Garlic
Cumin and Chili Powder
1-2 eggs
Several TBSP Sprouted wheat flour
Blended up in a blender, and fried up in red palm oil. So good.
And of course, some lacto-fermented salsa from Zukay. What else?
21/01/2009 at 12:49 pm Permalink
Oh now this is my kinda meal at the moment! DD’s are back at school & pre school next week and I’m already back at work & DH is working long hours so this is perfect & also fits our NY resolutions to be more frugal. Thanks so much.
Glad to chat to “see” each other on FB to!
21/01/2009 at 12:49 pm Permalink
Scott, that sounds weird… ha! I guess it’s just refried beans, eh? Hmmm sounds good actually.
How do you make carpaccio? I’ve eaten it at restaurants but would love to make it at home…
21/01/2009 at 6:22 pm Permalink
It’s ridiculously easy. We take a grass fed steak that’s been frozen, and while it’s still quite frozen, slice it paper thin using a mandolin knife. If you don’t have a mandolin, it’s really tough. We use Sally’s Egg Mustard Sauce as a dip, but other than a little sea salt and pepper, that’s about it -
22/01/2009 at 8:21 am Permalink
THIS IS GREAT! Thanks for the recipe! We do a lot of rice and bean recipes over here (makes the budget stretch). Have you made your own beans instead of using canned? I am just curious. We are going to start doing that after I run out (I hit the motherload of organic canned beans at 75% off and stocked up).
WOOHOO!!! 
Thanks so much for all the encouragement you give! Yesterday I saw a hidden case in the freezer at the health food store. It was Organic Buffalo meat. It was half the price of the other stuff that was way out in front. I asked about it and they said they have had it for over 2 years and it was GOOOOOOOD stuff. I asked if it was grass-fed, and they said YES! The other stuff that cost twice as much was NOT!
Also, do you have a recipe for Lacto-fermented salsa?? We plan on making and canning our own salsa this year. Can this type of salsa be canned? Thanks so much!!
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22/01/2009 at 8:30 am Permalink
I forgot to mention that there is a post on the 365 crockpot blog for how to use your crockpot as a rice cooker (just in case any of your readers have a crockpot but not a rice cooker.
22/01/2009 at 8:54 am Permalink
Hi, there Paula!
Score on the 75% off beans! Where did you find those? And yay for buffalo meat! I love bison.
I usually used dried beans (cheaper, better for you) but this recipe was for a last-minute meal — so I used canned.
Good tip on the crockpot idea! I had never heard that before.
No, you cannot can lacto-fermented salsa. It is a living food so it needs to stay refrigerated. But you can keep it in the fridge for quite a while. Mine has been keeping nicely for a number of months now. They say it’s supposed to go bad but it hasn’t yet…
22/01/2009 at 8:56 am Permalink
Oh, and yes I will post a recipe for lacto-fermented salsa — soon! It’s on my list of to dos…
22/01/2009 at 9:06 am Permalink
OH GOOD! I cannot WAIT for the recipe!
I think we will still can some salsa as we go through a LOT of it. Has to be better than what we are buying in the store, right? 
But that we will save for the winter months. We will make that lacto-fermented salsa during the summer months. 
I am going to try to grow heirloom tomatoes this year. I have never grown tomatoes, and we tried last year (with heirlooms – they taste SOOOOO much better!) and I got ONE! LOL!! But I was proud of that one!
I am hoping for a bigger yield this year.
The 75% off was a loss-leader (i.e. some GREAT sale where the store looses money on that item in hopes of you buying lots of other stuff while you are in the store). But I usually just shop the loss leaders, stock up, and then leave. LOL!!
I have been stockpiling for a while and it has saved us SO much money!
Paula’s last blog post..Current Web Readings
22/01/2009 at 9:44 am Permalink
You can make lacto-fermented salsa year-round. Just can your tomatoes and use those to make salsa. Or use canned tomatoes you buy in the store.
Also Zukay sells lacto-fermented salsa.
No reason to ever buy regular salsa again!
How do you find the loss leaders?
24/01/2009 at 5:13 pm Permalink
I did a salsa cook along.
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/teambettendorf/75005/
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24/01/2009 at 5:36 pm Permalink
Thanks, Katie!
I just bought 6 pounds of tomatoes at the farmer’s market today. I’m going to make L-F ketchup.
18/09/2009 at 9:10 am Permalink
I don’t normally leave comments on my favorite blogs, but I just got so excited that you have a Zojirushi, too. My brother got me one for my wedding. I love it! It takes all of the trickiness out of cooking rice. The music is fun, too.
02/12/2009 at 10:27 am Permalink
When making rice I find that it cooks best when you add butter or coconut oil before hand. The rice will NEVER stick together! Sunday I made mexican rice and I put in a combination of butter and coconut oil along with some chopped onion, garlic and a little organic tomato sauce. (Fresh tomatoes would have worked also.)
12/02/2010 at 4:13 pm Permalink
Hello,
This recipe looks great! I have a Zojiroshi but haven’t been able to pull off brown rice very well yet. Do you have any tips, secrets or advice?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
-Brian