Black bean and rice salad

I made this tonight and loved it!  I did add some Frank's Hot Sauce into the salad before serving.

Prep: 10 minutes; Cooking: 30 minutes

Servings: Makes 6 cups

Ingredients

1 cup long grain brown rice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Cubanelle chile or Italian frying pepper, trimmed and cut in 1/3-inch dice
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled and minced
2 cups freshly cut white corn kernels (from 2 ears) or 1 box (10 ounces) frozen corn, thawed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed well and drained
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar (I found it needed a 2nd one)
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, just until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and rinse well with cold water until cool. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in the same saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the chile, onion and garlic and stir until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the corn and salt and cook, stirring, just until heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the rice and toss to mix.

3. Add the beans, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the vinegar and toss well. Season with plenty of pepper and toss again.

Cooks' Notes:
•Here we cook the rice in plenty of water, like pasta, so that it stays tender after you cool it off.

Nutritional InformationNutritional analysis per cup: 308 calories, 11g fat (1.5g saturated), 44g carbohydrates, 7.5g fiber, 8g protein

Source Information Real Food For Healthy Kids

Reprinted with permission of William Morrow/An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers ,  © 2008

[1nana]

What a coinky dink!

I made something very similar for dinner. Instead of the rice, I used couscous. I used long green onions, instead of red, and I used lemon juice, instead of vinegar. All other ingredients were the same. Oh, I used a jalpeno pepper.

Very yummy!

[swampcritter]

Try using rice vinegar in place of the white vinegar...and add a few drops of liquid smoke to this recipe. Swampy likes the hot sauce addition, too.

[1nana]

Swampy, I took your advice and tried the rice vinegar.

It makes a big difference. You still get the vinegar flavor, but way milder.

I have yet to try liquid smoke.

[peekawho]

This might be good for dinner tonight..what the heck type of pepper is that??

[wonko]

I'm always looking for meatless meals that will pack easily for lunch and easy to make in advance--and this fits the bill.

I didn't know what type of pepper that was either (as Peek asks) so I just added some jalapeno (sp?).  I used rice vinegar and lots of black pepper (which I love on rice).

I can see how there could be lots of little variations to this to keep the recipe fresh.  This will probably become a good lunch staple for me!

Thanks!

[TrudieC]

A cubanelle is a light green pepper with a very light heat.  I used one but I would think it would be even better with the jalapeno as I like the heat.  A banana pepper would also be good.

[peekawho]

Trudie...I made this, and it will be dinner tonight for Mr. Peek and I.  I've tasted it, and it is a winner!

It will make vast quantities of lunches for this week.  I used jalapenos and rice vinegar.  And the hot sauce.  I also added one Quorn patty (vegetarian chicken) for extra protein.  

We're probably having it on a bed of chopped lettuce, garnished with diced roma tomatoes.  

Thanks!

[Sandymac]

Ok.. I give up.. what's a coinky dink???  Sounds x rated !!!

[gracefromHHP]

The italian frying peppers are a plenty in the farm markets right now :)  I make a sauce with them, onions, garlic and the big can of tomato paste and serve with pasta. They have a different taste from bell peppers but don't really have any heat  ( unless you buy the hot ones of course - i get the sweet italian peppers ).

From the sounds of this recipe ( which sounds terrific btw ! ) you could even substitute a plain ole red pepper if you don't like the heat of jalapenos ( or try a poblano pepper too ).

grace

[1nana]

Lol......well, way back when, the definition for coinky dink was; coincidence.

For all I know, it may have a whole new meaning nowadays.

[peekawho]

It was from some movie or TV show, where they were parodying a really stupid girl, and had her say "coincky-dink" rather than conincidence.

I can't remember which one.

Mr. Peek LOVED the salad.    Loved it.  Said he would eat it every day.

[pcarsey]

Ohhh.. I make this exact recipe. only when it is all done, I use a spinach wrap and wrap it and kind of brown the wrap in a frying pan with a little added cheese.. not too much though.. just enough to keep it all together! VERY scrumptious! I had it Last year at a hospital after surgery when I was absolutely starving and DH brought me this. I ended up calling the hospital cooks to ask them for the recipe....hehe! We have it ALL the time!

Sometimes I add sprouts and some extra onion. DH adds some Soy Vay Island Teriyaki sauce. I'm not too keen on all the sodium in the sauce though!

[peekawho]

I think you could do about anything to this.  I'm having the leftovers today in a wrap.