Black Beans and Rice (plus bonus Tortillas)

Okay. I loooooove the Zatarain's version of Black Beans and Rice. It's great when you add canned chicken to it! I'd never had it from scratch before a few months ago at my in-laws house (and before you have to ask, YES, I hardly ever ate dinner at my own house for the entire time I was dating and engaged to Nathan... sorry Mom). It was a Sunday evening dinner, and we sat down to eat around 4:30. When I heard it was black beans and rice, I was really excited because I was thinking of something like the above picture.

But homemade black beans and rice is sooooo different. I wasn't prepared for the subtle tastiness that ensued, and when I called my mother-in-law for the recipe after the move to Idaho, I was taken aback at the sheer lack of ingredients and the sort of touch-and-go mentality of preparing it. I added a couple things to change it up a bit so she can't sue me for recipe infringement, plus I like throwing cheese into everything.

Black Beans and Rice

1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of black beans, mashed
1 lb ground beef (or whatever)
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp (or so) chopped garlic
1 (or 2) dried bay leaf (or 1 tsp or so if all you have is crushed)
Generous handful of cheese--I use Mexican blend
Red pepper flakes

Simple, right? Well the preparation is equally so. I have a fancy hand blender that I got as a wedding present that I used twice for this meal. I used it to mash up the can of beans, but that can be done just as easily with a fork. I also used the food chopper to chop up the onion, but again, that can be done with a knife and cutting board.
Mash one can of beans and mix it with the other (drained) beans in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook up the ground beef (or sausage) with the onion. When it's done, drain the grease and add it to the beans. Add the garlic, bay leaf, cheese, and red pepper flakes. Heat through. Make sure you taste it. If you think it needs more garlic, red pepper, or maybe some salt, go ahead and add it. Delicious!

[If you think bay leaves are poisonous, please read this. I wasn't sure myself, so I checked it out.]

After exhaustive testing, I've found that this amount of the black beans, proportion-wise, goes best with cooking 1.5 cups of white rice. (1.5 cups rice + 3 cups water)

The simplicity of cooking rice eludes most people (my husband, for one), but you can ALWAYS follow this formula: 1 part rice, 2 parts water. Boil the water, add the rice, cover, reduce to low temperature and simmer for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Fluff with a fork when it's done. Voila!

Once I made the black beans I didn't make rice. However, Nathan made tortillas! The next time we had black beans, I mixed the rice with the black beans and we put them in delicious homemade tortillas! It was fantastic. Nathan usually makes the tortillas, but I gave it a shot this last time and they definitely tasted great, but they weren't as pretty as his.

Definitely try out this great recipe for tortillas, which Nathan got from a YouTube video!

Bonus Tortillas!

3.5 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
7 tbls shortening or vegetable oil
1 cup very hot water

Knead dough for 3 minutes, cover with a clean cloth, let sit for 15 minutes, separate into approximately 1.5 oz. balls, roll dough out until it's flat and round, place on hot pan (medium heat, maybe even less), flip when air bubbles form. Ta daaaa! It should make about 18 tortillas, but we've been averaging about 12 or so. They're really tasty!

The Youtube video, if you'd like to see it done.