Not Just Any Rice & Beans

 

Leftovers at my house have a tendency to morph into new meals that carry me through the following week.  I get great economy out of the food I purchase and prepare.  A couple weeks ago I had opened a pint jar of homemade beanless chili to make a chili dog meal and use up a couple leftover hot dogs.  Once that meal was prepared and eaten I had about two thirds of a jar of leftover chili and no idea of what to do with it.

 

Chili with black beans

I personally prefer my chili with beans so I didn't want to just eat what was leftover.  I did have a jar of black beans I had canned in my pantry so I pulled that out and then the ideas began to flow.  I knew I could make a delicious chili simply by combining the leftovers with the jar of beans, however I also knew I could take it up another notch simply by using up some other leftover items in the refrigerator as well.  Primarily a jar with a couple tablespoons of salsa left in it.

 

Seasoned rice

This made a lot of food for not a lot of money

I began by sautéing one cup of rice in a pot with a little bit of oil.  While the rice toasted I filled up the salsa jar with two cups of warm water and gave it a good shake.  Once the rice was sautéed I used the salsa water as the liquid to cook the rice.  I seasoned the rice further with some chili powder, cumin, onion powder and minced garlic and cooked it for five minutes over medium heat before turning the burner off and allowing the residual heat to finish the cooking process.  Click here to learn more about how I prefer to cook rice.

 

A delicious burrito

While my rice cooked I combined the jar of black beans and leftover chili in a saucepan and brought it to a boil then simmered it with some additional chili powder, ground cumin, onion powder and garlic salt.  I warmed up a flour tortilla and placed some of the rice, some of the chili, some leftover grated sharp cheddar cheese I had in the fridge and sprinkled hot sauce over it to make a most delicious burrito for my lunch.  It was so good I ended up having another one for supper and lunch again the next day.

 

Rice & beans topped with cheese

Another way to enjoy the chili and the rice is to simply place a serving of each one in a bowl and top with cheese.  In either case, the bowl of rice and beans or the burrito, you could add various toppings such as sour cream, salsa, sliced avocado or guacamole and change it up even more.  I think the key to making the ever so affordable rice and beans meal more palatable is to make sure we add a lot of flavor to the meal.  My typical red beans and rice recipe is loaded with flavor too and this variation is every bit as good, in my opinion.  It's a different take on it and I quite enjoyed it.  In doing this I was able to make several more delicious meals for myself for mere pennies.  By thinking a little bit outside the box I was able to make some wonderful, low cost meals and minimize any potential food waste in the process by using up quite a few items that were hanging out in my refrigerator that needed to be used up.  I will definitely be making this meal again.