Black Beans and Rice

I am adding this post to The Gluten Free Homemaker's "What's for Dinner Wednesday" --Hope everyone enjoys some Beans-n-Rice!

One of my favorite GF recipes is one that I had been making long before I knew that gluten was killing me. One of my friends got a crock pot in college, and made this for a party--actually, a Jazz party. Anyway, it was amazing and I was hooked.

I make this in a 2-quart crock pot.

• 1-lb dry black beans (one bag), or 2 (16 oz.) cans beans
• 4 cloves minced garlic (or 5-6 tsp. from a jar)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery
• 3 medium carrots
• 1 can tomatoes (14-16 oz.) diced or stewed

• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. Hot Sauce (Tabasco, Texas Pete, etc.)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda, if you have hard water (when using dry beans)

• 4 c. vegetable or chicken broth
• enough water to fill up the crock pot
• 2 or 3 cups cooked rice

Chop the vegetables, rinse the beans, then put everything (except the rice!) in the crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours or high 5-6 hours, until beans are tender. The beans will never get soft enough in hard (city) water if you don't add the baking soda, I have learned.

Feel free to skip one or two ingredients that you don't have around--I often skip the celery or carrots, depending on what's in the fridge. You could probably add stuff like green peppers, too. Good luck.

Anyway, once the beans are soft, it's time for the rice. The first serving, I serve the beans over the rice (as in photo), but after that I mix all the remaining rice into the bean mixture and freeze individual portions for lunches.

*****

Underground tips: Use the baking soda, seriously. Also, while cooking in the crock pot, the bean stew will seem pretty spicy to taste (and I usually overdo the spices on purpose). You want that, because when you add the rice, it will dull the flavor somewhat.

Serve with Tabasco, shredded cheese or sour cream. Maybe even a little fresh cilantro. Mmm.