Arroz con Frijoles Negro

Long day.

Seriously long day.

Not always easy being the President of Jerk Work.

sometimes when I get home to my empty house I don’t want to cook and I don’t care if anyone else eats later tonight or tomorrow or next week. All I want are PJs and a pillow.

Very, very selfish of me, I know.

Quick solution? A store bought rotisserie chicken, tortillas, the fixings to go with (avocado, cilantro, onions, sour cream, etc.) and Arroz con Frijoles Negro.

For Cinco de Mayo, the Holiday Recipe Club gave us three ingredients to choose, one of them being tomatoes! This recipe fits right in and so here we go!

HAPPY CINCO de MAYO!!

This is so simple it’s almost embarrassing to post!

• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 (10.5 oz.) can black beans, rinsed well
• 1 t cumin
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 chipolte pepper in adobo chopped
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1/4 C chopped cilantro

NOTE: I totally cheated here and used instant brown rice and made it in the microwave. You can use whatever form of rice that makes you happy.

Add one tablespoon of olive oil to a saute pan and add the onions. Saute onions until they begin to wilt.

Add the drained and rinsed black beans and stir.

Add the cumin and chili powder. Stir to combine. Let cook for 1 to 2 minutes and add the chopped chipolte and tomatoes.  Stir to combine and let simmer gently for a couple of minutes.

Add rice and cilantro. Mix well, make sure everything is warm and serve.

Torta Senza Riso

I am so pleased to be participating in the Holiday Recipe Club (if you want to join click on the link and send in an email)! I love these blog hops. So much fun to see what everyone else is doing and cooking and baking. I particularly love that this one is no pressure. I don’t work well with deadlines. This one is simple ~ a few weeks before the holiday you’re sent a list of ingredients. You have to use 1, 2 or all 3 in your recipe. How much fun is that?

Back to the cooking!

Growing up, one of my favorite things to have at any holiday was my Great Grandmother’s Torta. Plain and simple – a flaky pie-like crust, spinach, rice, parmigiano, eggs, baked and fabulousness. Then my Mother throws a wrench into the works with a recipe by her friend Celeste for something very similar, that she has now tweaked, but without the rice and using ricotta.

• 1 pie crust ~ deep dish
• 1 – 6 oz. bag baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 2 eggs
• 1 16 oz ricotta
• heaping 1/4 C parmigiano
• 1/4 t fresh ground pepper

NOTE: For you do-it-yourselfers out there, by all means make the pie crust. I used a Pillsbury pie crust.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roughly chop the spinach and saute until cooked down. Let cool and squeeze dry. If you don’t squeeze it dry, the whole thing will be too soggy and watery.

Mix spinach, eggs, ricotta, parmigiano and pepper in a bowl.

Pour into pie crust, smooth out top and bake for about 45 until lightly brown on top.

This makes a wonderful lunch, light supper with a salad, or side dish.