Monday, April 28, 2008

Kitchen Clean Out = Beans & Rice

Spring-cleaning has still got a hold of me! The past few days I have been throwing clutter away (which is really, really hard for me) and reorganizing the whole apartment. Part of my reorganization plan is cleaning out the kitchen cabinets/fridge and using up items that I know are getting a bit old.
On my last trip to Tampa, my Dad shared his pillow-sized sack of jasmine rice with us, so I needed to use my old supply. We also have way too many dried beans (if there is such a thing) and so I decided to make plain old black beans with rice, with a side of fried plantains and an avocado tomato salad. The beans were cooked in water, garlic, onion, olive oil, dried oregano and sofrito (that has been lurking in my fridge for way too long) for a few hours. The beans weren't nearly as good as my Dad's but they filled me up none the less. The rice wasn't all that. I don't think my (almost always) trusty steamer cooked the rice very well. It was a tad on the al dente side, which is not a good feature in rice. The avocado and tomato salad was simply an avocado, tomato, red onion, red wine vinegar, salt and olive oil. The plantains were perfectly sweet and fried in canola oil. Dessert and side dish all in one!
Since I have been so busy with stuff around the house, this meal not only got rid of a few items in my kitchen but also gave me a much needed energy boost.
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15 comments:

Bee Roach said...

Looks good; the plantains are a nice addition :)

I have been Spring Cleaning, too! I cleaned the house this weekend and now I am going through all our clothes and getting rid of all the stuff we don't wear/need/fit into.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Hooray for a kitchen clean-out!! You know already that I'm a fan of those :0)

Those beans sound fabulous!

Anonymous said...

Good old rice and beans! Yum yum!

Anonymous said...

Sounds far more successful than my attempts at cleaning out the fridge... I rediscovered some frozen herbs and was planning to use them, but they ended up tasting like nothing but freezer. Bleh.

Theresa said...

What a colourful meal!

Jess said...

Yum! That looks so delicious! Spring cleaning is SUCH A GREAT FEELING! Sorry for the caps, but it makes me giddy. :) I love being so organized.

Glue and Glitter said...

Ohman that looks amazing!

This weekend, I tried black beans with a few sweet pickles (the chip-shaped sort) as a topping. It was surprising and good!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

I think it's time for spring cleaning around here as well! Your clean out sounds yummy to me!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
aTxVegn said...

The beans and rice and the salad look super! My last batch of rice made in my pressure cooker turned out al dente. You're right, not a good thing.

The muffins you made a couple of posts ago look so good! HBD to your dad and congrats on getting into school.

Alicia said...

I've never had plantains! Your meal looks great, and I have black beans soaking :-)

nipsum said...

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Anonymous said...

I need a dose of that, stat! it looks so pretty and colorful and full of good energy.

The Vegan Revolution said...

Spring cleaning...do I have to? Your food looks bright and beautiful, not to mention tasty.

bazu said...

That looks yummy. We've been having tons of beans lately too, also trying to clean out the kitchen and pantry.