Dinner Tonight - 5/13/10

Dinner tonight was fabulous on so many levels! It was "Mexican Black Bean and Rice Bowls", and here's what made it so good:

1. The bean mixture (green peppers, garlic, spices, etc.) smelled heavenly while it cooked.
2. It was a way to eat brown rice without the "meh" factor.
3. We were able to use many organic elements - the black beans, corn, brown rice, salsa, corn chips, lettuce, tomatoes, and cumin were all organic.
4. It's a meatless meal, which we're trying to include in our menu plan at least once per week. The production and transportation of meat products uses tremendous resources (and has a large "carbon footprint"), so even one fewer meal involving meat makes a difference.
5. It's a relatively inexpensive meal, as beans and rice tend to be.
6. IT WAS DANG YUMMY!!! Definitely a hit with everyone!

We had lettuce, tomatoes, multiple kinds of shredded cheese, and corn chips (for crunching up) as toppings.  You could add sour cream and guacamole, too, among other things. The recipe calls for serving this in a bowl (which is how Nephew ate his), but I heated some corn tortillas on the electric griddle and the rest of us had ours as tacos.  The recipe makes A LOT, so we'll be eating this as leftovers for weekend lunches.

Niece compiles her black bean and brown rice taco creation.

My bowl and tortillas, before I made it into tacos with lettuce and MORE cheese.