Beans and Rice

Running a bicycle shop means that I have busy weeks with little time to prepare healthy food for breakfast lunch and dinner every day. But as a Bicycle Shop owner I also understand the importance of having a well-balanced diet, and filling my body with nutrients as much as possible. Thus, Sunday, my one day off, usually involves cooking and prepping meals for the week. One of my staples is this Beans and Rice dish that can be warmed up and eaten alone, topped with avocado, cheese, or salsa and eaten with chips, or spread on a tortilla for a quesadilla.

 

The only down side to this dish is you have to plan ahead and soak the beans the night before. I usually mix Black Beans, Yellow Beans, and Pinto Beans for a total of 2 cups beans.

I soak the beans overnight in water (I usually just leave them on the counter, but you could put them in the fridge if you wanted). Rinse and add to a 3 quart pan with 3 cups of water.

I then add 4 large cloves of garlic and 1/3 cup of  jalapeno (I used some that have been preserved from last summer) and simmer on low for a few hours with the lid on. Don’t forget to stir them occasionally so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

About half-way through cooking I add 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Cumin (this adds a nice smoky flavor) and just shy of 1 Tablespoon of Cayenne pepper (more if you like it really spicy) and let these simmer into the beans.

I take this time to clean the kitchen, prep veggies for the week, take care of laundry, and vacuum the house.

 

 

I also use my rice cooker to make 2 cups of rice (dry measurement, which makes 4 cups cooked rice). You can use brown rice, white rice, short grain, long grain, wild or any combination thereof.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the beans and rice are done (beans are to be soft and mushy and should have a little bit of extra water on them) I cut up a large red onion into strips and sauté it in a frying pan with a little olive oil. They should be brown, translucent, and soft.

 

 

 

I then take my potato masher and mash-up the bean, garlic, and jalapeno mixture. You could skip this step, but it helps diffuse the seasonings throughout the dish if it’s mashed.

 

 

 

I add the onions to the cooked rice (in a big dish that you will store it in for the week).  I then take a bag of frozen corn and sauté it in the pan I used for the onions. This not only warms them up, but if you let them get a little browned it adds nice color and flavor to the dish.

 

 

 

I also add a can of diced tomatoes to the rice and onions while the corn is cooking. Then add the bean mixture and the corn and mix well.

 

You are left with a large pan of rice and beans that can be warmed up quickly for a protein rich, nutritious lunch or dinner. 

Won’t you be my (Good) Neighbor?

As old man winter refuses to leave us here in Mid-Michigan we are faced with a small 4-6 inches of snow. Although many are upset by snow in large quantities I enjoy it. True, it is bad for a bicycle shop‘s business plan to get snow, especially this late in the season; but something magical happens in Downtown Mt. Pleasant when it snows.

As most businesses are small independent shops some shop keepers are not able to make it in to open when the roads are bad, such as Heather from Om Bodies. But the magical thing is that although she is not able to get here, her front sidewalk is shoveled. As are all storefronts downtown.

How do they get shoveled? Does the Downtown pay someone to come and shovel? No, most shop keepers do their own shoveling, but we are all good neighbors. Take last night, for example. I walked Dolly around 11:30pm and saw we had at least three inches of snow already.

So I started shoveling, to make life easier for myself in the morning.

And it felt great 20 minutes later when the storefront was clear of snow.

But what about the New Yorker Children’s Shop? Their shop keeper is aging and not as able to shovel his sidewalks on his own, so I spent an extra 15 minutes and cleared off his sidewalk as well, in my effort to be a good neighbor.

 

Now I’m not the only one out there being a good neighbor, and being a good neighbor doesn’t consist only of shoveling sidewalks. The local Rollie Denison Leadership Institute Class of 2010/2011 recently did their part in being a good neighbor and collected food and other goodies for a family in need through the United Way’s Adopt a Family Program this winter.

 

Being a good neighbor is not only nice, but it leaves you with a good feeling inside. And as such I must end with this clip, Enjoy.