Beans & Rice

I made a new recipe last week. It is Beans & Rice. I bet no one's ever done that before, huh? :)

Well, really, I hadn't. And so I experimented. I have always shied away from making beans and rice from scratch before because I thought it was some long, drawn-out process that involved a ham hock or ham bone or something like it that I never have.

Last week, I had unseasoned, previously cooked pinto beans frozen in the freezer (they had been remarkably easy to cook). I had cold, cooked rice in the fridge. I mixed them. Seasoned liberally with taco seasoning. Added some good salsa. Splashed some water in, too. Stirred them up. Microwaved them until piping hot. Ate them with cornbread. Liked them surprisingly well.

Liked them so much, actually, that I made some more this week and stuck the mixture in tortillas with some cheddar cheese and baked them at 350 for 10 minutes. Those were the easy, frugal, bean, rice, and cheese burritos that we ate for dinner two nights this week.

And there are four more burritos frozen in the freezer for a quick lunch or dinner another day!

Maybe not very authentic, but I was pretty pleased with myself.