Mexican Beans and Rice

adapted from Rice of Life's Mexican Rice and Beans

Serves 4 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 2 hours • Active cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 red onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 cups dried pinto beans, sorted, rinsed, and soaked
2 cups brown rice
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
cilantro, chopped
wedge of lime
1/2 avocado, sliced
salt to taste


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 6 cups water.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender.

3. Saute onion in a little bit of oil until soft. Add green bell peppers and saute until soft. Add pinto beans, spices, and tomato sauce. Stir until everything is well mixed and there is a nice sauce for the beans. If necessary add small amounts of water to thin the sauce (in 1/4 cup increments). Add salt to taste and adjust spices, as necessary.

4. Serve over brown rice. Garnish with cilantro, lime wedge, and avocado.

Notes: This recipe sort of tasted to me like what pinto beans and mexican rice would taste like if you mixed them together. Very comforting and easy. We served them with tortillas on the side.