Friday, June 18, 2010

Asian Black Beans & Rice

Thank you all for telling me about your favorite substitutes. Here are a few of your suggestions:

  • Stephanie substitutes white vinegar for traditional household cleaners
  • Erin adds turmeric to most dishes to replace or in addition to cayenne or paprika
  • Anne Marie likes to replace breadcrumbs with oatmeal
  • Winterjade uses banana instead of eggs in her pancakes

And the winner of the Substituting Ingredients book is…Megan D of the Oatmeal Diaries- wahooo! Congrats! Email me at Itzyskitchen at gmail dot com and I will get your book to you.

The rest of my week has been a lot more easy/peasy! I’ve been having to take Frank for his walks early in the morning (5 or 6 AM) due to the heat! Even at that time, its still almost 80 degrees and humid. I love it…Frank does not:

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I did manage to get a nice run in on Wednesday. It was cloudy so the heat wasn’t too bad. I set out to do 50 minutes and ended going a bit over, but covered about 6.3 miles:

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Wednesday night, I used inspiration from No Meat Athlete to make a new take on beans and rice. The dish doesn’t look gorgeous but tasted great! 

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  I adjusted Erin’s recipe just a bit:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • 1 15 oz can reduced sodium black beans (drained & rinsed)
  • 1 small container pineapple tidbits (juice reserved)
  • 1 small container water chestnuts
  • 3 large carrots, cut into strips
  • 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice powder

Directions:

Mix 5 spice powder in with cooked rice and set aside.

Heat vegetable oil. Add carrots and red pepper and cook for a minute or two. Add beans and water chestnuts and cook until carrots are cooked through but still crunchy (as Erin noted :)). Remove from heat. Add soy sauce, 1/3 the reserved pineapple juice and pineapple. Place on top of rice.

I’m off to meet my friend Jill for some brunch and then its work time! Weekend plans??

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the one about white vinegar! I'm always trying to find natural ways to clean

lee@In My Tummy said...

Looks good but I would make it without the pineapple. I have a weird thing where I don't like to mix sweet foods with savory foods.

Anonymous said...

Great dish and I love your new blog design...very impressive and sleek..like you my sweets! Awe, so sorry Frank doesn't do well with heat, but you will just have to rock it for him. Enjoy your day girl!

Anonymous said...

Oh and Congrats to Megan D!

Autumn @Good Eats Girl said...

This meal looks delicious! Sometimes the dishes that I think aren't the prettiest taste the best!

Frank is just too cute!!

Nisrine@Dinners and Dreams said...

It looks like a wholesome and complete meal.

Bridget said...

Awww Frank...he looks parched haha!

That bean dish sounds like it tastes really good!!

Happy Friday Erica!!

Megan D said...

Yayyyy so excited!! I will send you my address asap!
p.s. Frank is too adorable :)

Amelia said...

Poor Frank...at least you can get him out to walk more than just to the mailbox. Buddy has had a hard time walking lately and his back legs literally cave underneath him.

Dinner sounds delish!

Our weekend is full of relaxation for once. Hitting up Whole paycheck today. Going to the market Saturday morning followed by lots of lounging by the pool.

Jenna said...

Oatmeals for bread crumbs, I never would have thought! I think I need to go back and read some of the other ideas, there are some creative people out there. :)

Mike's band has a gig tomorrow night, but that is about all!

homecookedem said...

Your new blog look is great!! And your asian black beans & rice sound wonderful!! :) I especially love the addition of the pineapple, yummmmmmmm!!

Anonymous said...

Love the new look!! I'm hoping to get some R&R this weekend. Poor Frank and the heat!

Molly said...

Beans & rice is one of my favorite combos! Yay for complete vegan proteins!
And Frrraaannnkkk!!!

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ said...

That looks great girlie! I really like water chestnuts. Poor cutie pie Frank. I'm sure he's hating this heat. Our neighbor's son got a bulldog puppy a few months ago and we saw here yesterday..adorable!

Julie said...

oh! i hope you have fun at brunch :) seriously i don't think it gets any better then brunch hahaha :) did you parfait it up?

TELL ME WHY eff tarding cablevision has to break my cable box the night of the reunion part 3. i didn't even get to dvr it OR beth's new show. i am TICKED OFF. i guess that means reruns better be playing like crazy!


have a good weekend girl :) :)

Beth @ DiningAndDishing said...

My parents are stopping through DC this weekend so my plans include taking them to Jazz in the Garden, Mt Vernon and a Fathers Day BBQ. Looking forward to it!

Enjoy your weekend too lady!

Ali said...

Frank is too cute! My dog isn't enjoying the heat either!!

Kelsey Ann said...

i love this- and pineapple makes the world of difference doesnt it!! :)

Naomi(Onefitfoodie) said...

congrats to megan!! I have dabbled around using white vinegar for cleaning purposes to and its great!!

nice job on that run!!

haha frank is such a cutie!

Kerr said...

I am very impressed by your running skillz. I did 2.5 last night and that is very far for me!

The Blonde Duck said...

Poor Frank!

Holly said...

Awww poor Frank!! I love the heat, too, but I'm sure the puppies aren't big fans. :-)

I hope you have a great weekend, girl! We have my lil' nephew's baptism and of course Father's Day!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

girl I am still sooo in need of getting that Polar! Everytime i see it, I want it! And a few other bloggers that i respect have them and I just need to get on that, stat.

I loved what you told me about freckles/tan. Too cute :)

Have a super weekend, Erica!!!!
xoxo

Diana @ frontyardfoodie said...

Okay that definitely looks pretty! Great colors and super tasty looking. Very comfort foodish.

Winterjade said...

I am going to a wedding this weekend...I love weddings!

Frank is super cute! Might have to design up a camelbak for puppies! LOL

vanillasugarblog said...

i'm with frank on this one. i love the heat, but cannot take the humidity at all.

tam said...

YUM! that rice dish looks delish, I had a fab rice dish today x x

Heather said...

I love Frank!! He's so cute!
I love rice and beans, too. Just made some yesterday - it's one of my favorite dishes!
Have a good weekend, Erica!

Esi said...

Have a fab weekend!! I'm going to be a lady who lunches :)

Priyanka@thehealthydiary said...

That is one nice creation and looks like it won't take any time to make it.

have a good weekend Erica!

Candice said...

I just found your blog via No Meat Athlete. I am already taking inspiration from your recipes/food ideas! Happy weekend!

~Candice

Krista said...

Frank is soo sweet but I bet he hates the heat! Great run!!!

CaSaundraLeigh said...

Love the pics of Frank--but it always makes me miss my bully. Hopefully I can get home to see him soon!

Anonymous said...

Love Frank!
We are cheering on some dragonboat racer friends, visiting with my mother-in-law and going out for dinner. Love weekends.

Anonymous said...

I love the new look of the blog! This humidity is killing me....and Lincoln! When I get home from work at 530P it is just absolute killer outside.