Cheap Beans and Spanish Rice

Cheap Beans & Spanish Rice
Ok, so this is way cheaper if you don't use vegetable broth, which is a possibility, but it won't taste as good.

What you'll need
1 cup of black beans, dried
1 cup of brown rice, dried
Olive oil
1/2 cup of chopped green pepper
1/2 cup of chopped carrot
1 medium to large sized tomato, diced
1/2 cup of onion
1 or 2 cloves of garlic minced
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Vegetable broth (or water)
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3/4 cup of fresh salsa
Cayenne pepper
Chili powder
Lime
Sea salt & pepper

In order to cook the beans you must first soak them in water for 24 hours (you can do as less as 8 hours, but then they will take longer to cook). Drain and rinse them after they've been soaked, then bring to a boil in enough water (they will expand a little more), and finally simmer at low to medium heat for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

For the rice: begin by frying the dried rice in a pan with a bit of olive oil. Add the onion and garlic after a few minutes, and keep stirring -- just don't let the rice get too burnt (a light burn and some color change is what we're after). 8-10 minutes will do. Add the rice, with onion and garlic, to a pot containing the chopped veggies and 1 3/4 cups of vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and simmer as usual until all of the broth is absorbed (this may take up to 45 minutes). If you time it right, you can have your beans and rice done nearly at the same time.

Combine cooked beans and cooked rice in a separate pot big enough for both, and add the following: salsa, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and a squirt of lime. Mix well, salt and pepper to taste, and adjust spiciness accordingly. This can probably serve 4 or 5, so once again you will probably have left overs, which makes great low-budget Mexican food.

Sometimes I like to eat this with tortilla chips and hot sauce (for extra filling and spiciness) or guacamole or even with a bit of sour cream alternative. It's your choice. My guacamole recipe, which is really easy, can be found under its own category.