A tasty beans & rice dish with a cold beer and a fresh salad does the body good. Especially when it starts to get ugly out- this food draws me back to time spent baking on beaches. Sifting warm sand through my fingers, the heat of the sun hitting my shoulders…the smell my skin gives off as it resigns to sunburn, the salty ocean. It pains me to think of it as we descend in to the cold misery that is a Seattle winter. When in Mexico, I make this quite a bit- throwing in whatever vegetables (or fruit- sweet mango is delicious here) are ripe and scooping it up into a fresh tortilla. In this recipe I combine some finely chopped veggies with a good amount of spices and black beans. You can use canned black beans and tomatoes or use fresh…what ever is convenient. Using fresh tastes better to me but I understand wanting to bypass soaking/cooking beans on a busy night. In any case, the end result is a piquant dish with a little bit of heat to it. I serve it a top brown rice but white rice is debatedly better in this case. Garnish with tofu sour cream, minced scallions, fresh cilantro and a few slices of fresh avocado… this meal is golden. Don’t forget the beer-it’s crucial.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions, garlic, bell pepper, carrot and zuchini. Cook covered and allow veggies to soften- about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir in the Spike seasoning, chili powder, cayenne, dried parsley, beans, tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook and allow to simmer for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally until all is tender and saucy.  Serve hot with white rice. Top with tofu sour cream, avocado, cilantro and scallions as garnish.