Black Beans with Rice: An Easy Recipe
Black beans are awesome, I don’t care what anyone says. I have always liked beans, I think they are delicious and very nutritious. But, when I discovered black beans not too long ago, I was blown away. In fact, I stumbled upon black beans when I was doing grocery shopping one day and saw them in a big bucket next to other types of beans. I wondered what that was and being the curious person I am, especially when it comes to food, I bought some and cooked it and I am glad I did. Matter of fact, black beans have become one of my favorite foods to have, even more so than other beans.
Anyway, every beans dish I have had had one problem, the cooks added too many damn ingredients or spices to the beans! This takes away from the natural flavor of black beans to the point where I don’t even know what they taste like anymore -.-. Thus, I decided to cook black beans the way I see perfect, and ironically, it tasted better than most if not all the different recipes I have tried. Chipotle’s black beans are not bad, though -to be fair-.
In addition, I have created a power plate that involve black beans and I bet you that you will lick your fingers afterwards.
Ingredients needed:
- 50 grams’ RAW DRY black beans = about ½ a cup
- ½ a lemon or lime
- 50 grams’ brown rice
- 100 grams’ raw salmon (don’t get caught up on the different species and sources, but wild Atlantic is ideal)
- Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 tbsp.
- A bit of chopped cilantro
- Salt and pepper
- Ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1 Scallion
- Half a green bell pepper
Preparation time = 25-30 minutes!
Directions:
- Soak the black beans in water and let it sit for 20 minutes.
- Soak the rice in water let it sit for 15-20 minutes.
- Place the salmon filet in a skillet pan, add salt to taste. Cut the scallion and pepper into small pieces and place them in the pan with the salmon filet.
- To see if the black beans and rice soaked up successfully, pinch some with your fingers and see if they have gotten softer, if so proceed to step 5.
- Place the black beans in a boiling pan and fill up the pan with enough water just to cover the beans -do not put too much water-.
- Do the same in step #5 with the rice.
- Boil both the rice and black beans for 10 minutes then check if the water was completely soaked up/evaporated, if so put some more water and keep boiling both ingredients for 10 more minutes.
- After about 20 minutes both the rice and the black beans should’ve become completely soft and edible.
- Take the black beans out of the pan, place it in a bowl and add the apple cider vinegar to it. Add salt and black pepper to flavor and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
- Place the cooked rice in a bowl, add salt and pepper as much as you like, however, add the chopped cilantro to it and let it sit for 2 minutes.
- Check on the salmon filet to see if it’s cooked. How you know so is that you will see the salmon’s color turning from pink/read to lighter pink. The color will be fainter.
- If the salmon is ready, take it out and place it in a plate. Make sure you cover it up with the scallion and peppers’ pieces you cooked with the salmon.
- Stir the black beans for 30 seconds then place it in the same dish as the salmon filet. Do the same for the rice.
- You should have something that looks like this:
- Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon over the rice, black beans and salmon filet for a more flavorful and nutritious plate -the cinnamon will enhance the flavor, I promise-.
- Squeeze the 1/2 lemon/lime you have over the whole plate. Bon Appetit!
Nutrition facts about the power plate (given the amounts in the ingredients list):
| Item/Food | Calories | Carbohydrates | Protein | Fat | Fiber |
| Black Beans | 170 | 31.18 grams | 10.80 grams | 0.71 grams | 7.8 grams |
| Salmon, Atlantic, Wild | 142 | 0 grams | 19.84 grams | 6.34 grams | 0 |
| Brown Rice | 181 | 38.08 grams | 3.75 grams | 1.34 grams | 1.7 grams |
| Total | 493 calories | 69.26 grams | 34.39 | 8.39 grams | 9.5 grams |
Not bad, ha?
Additional facts about he power plate:
- Rich in omega-3 thanks to the salmon.
- Rich in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Again, thanks to the salmon.
- Rich in complex carbs.
- Has an adequate amount of protein with approximately 35 grams per serving.
- Low in calories.
- Will keep you satiated due to the complex carbs in the brown rice and beans.
- Will you fuller for longer due to having 9.5 grams of fiber, which is almost 1/3rd of your daily recommendation.
- Rich in vitamin A and folate.
- Rich in Potassium, Phosphorus, Calcium and Magnesium.
- Will have a positive effect on your cholesterol level due to the healthy fat content in salmon.
Key Point
This is simple easy and flavorful plate that is low in calories, has high fiber, and will keep you full for some time. This is one of the main plates I loved having while dieting because of those very specific reasons. Due to different nutrients biological effects, this plate will also help you lose more weight and improve your overall health, but this is another article for another time, however, you will just have to trust me on this one for now. Enjoy!
