My husband, who has a love of all things Mexican/spicy/taco related… LOVES beans and rice. Especially red beans and rice. I, personally, am kind of picky when it comes to beans. I’m all about a certain texture. Some  beans have a “weirder” texture than others. Black beans are ones that I actually like/tolerate better than others. SO… when I decided to make this dish, I had to swap out a few ingredients… and then I spiced it up a bit! Usually rice and beans is quite mild, but I thought… let’s make it a bit spicy for my hubby! It turned out delicious too! I will give options for those who do NOT want the extra heat in the dish and prefer their beans and rice on the milder side.

This dish… literally… took me 15 minutes to cook. That’s it. Start to finish. 15 minutes, DONE.  My husband took the kids and the dog on a walk, when they got back, dinner was done! That’s not hard, right?! Who needs a processed and prepackaged voila meal when you can make something like this so quickly?! AND you know all of the ingredients and sodium etc. content, because you put it in there! (Except for the kielbasa… but I get the cleanest, most natural kind I can possibly find… and the Turkey version!). So… give this one a try, you busy busy families! You won’t regret it!

Servings: 4

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 package (14 ounce) All Natural Turkey (or regular) kielbasa, sliced
• 1/2 small sweet yellow onion diced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 cup white rice
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups water
• 1 can (14 ounce) black beans, rinsed well
• 2 mini sweet yellow peppers diced (OR half of a bell pepper)
• 1/8 tsp cayenne powder (SKIP if you want MILD rice and beans)
• 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning like: Emeril’s Bayou Blast (IF you want MILD, try using 1/4 tsp of turmeric!! Beautiful color and MILD taste!)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilis (Rotel or similar) — for mild, use the diced tomatoes w/out the chilis
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Start the rice in a pan or the rice cooker. RINSE your rise until the water runs clear. I use a mesh colander. Place the rice into a pan, or rice cooker, and fill until the water covers the rice and rises to the first crease on your finger if you are BARELY touching the top of the rice…. Make sense?? If not, follow the directions on the bag. 🙂 Press COOK on the rice cooker if you have one… and move on. Otherwise, follow rice instructions on the bag.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium-high. Add the kielbasa and onion; sauté until onions become soft and translucent (about 3 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add in the garlic, beans and peppers and stir for about 30 seconds.
3. Stir in the cooked rice and a dash of salt and pepper. Stir until well incorporated.
4. Serve immediately and enjoy!

This was full of heat, and flavor, and makes my mouth water thinking about it!!

YUM! The leftovers definitely were enjoyed!!

And now, for the quote of the day: