Meal Prep Monday: Chipotle and Chorizo Black Beans and Rice

I've taken on an extra day at work, so Mondays are my only day off for the time being. Meal prep is more important than ever when time is short! I don't want to spend time packing lunch every day, and I don't want to grab something fast but expensive, so making up a big batch is how I am spending my day off.

This week's breakfast and lunch prep includes: 

- Pumpkin pie oatmeal 

- Chipotle and Chorizo Black Beans with rice (recipe below) 

- Roasted carrots with onion and cumin

- Cucumbers 

Chipotle and Chorizo black beans

This was a throw-together recipe using my Instant Pot. It's really cheap, easy, super flavorful, and hands-on time was less than 10 minutes. Omit the chorizo, or use the soy version, for it to be vegetarian.

1 T cooking oil
1 onion, diced
1.5 c. dry beans, sorted and rinsed
2-14 oz. cans of tomatoes with green chiles or chipotle, undrained
15 oz. can of corn, undrained
5 oz. can of tomato paste
1 bay leaf
Spices - to taste, what you have available, this is flexible!
about 2 T garlic powder
about 1.5 T cumin
about 1 T smoked paprika
about 1.5 T oregano
about .5 t cinnamon (I really like this addition to chili flavored beans)
1 T chipotle in adobo, finely minced
12 oz. Mexican chorizo

Saute onion in cooking oil until translucent. Add spices and fry up a minute or two, until fragrant. All the rest of the ingredients except chipotle and chorizo go in next, followed by water to cover it all by about an inch. Use the bean setting on the Instant Pot. If the beans aren't fully cooked, do another 10 minutes at pressure.

In a separate pan, fry up chorizo, breaking apart into small bits. Add the chipotle and fry another minute or two. Combine the chorizo and chipotle mixture to the bean mixture. 

Putting it all together

A scoop of each beans and rice, with a side of carrots and cucumber salad - yumminess ready for a busy week, at about $.50 per serving!

New Year's Chili

Happy New Year!

There are traditional New Year's foods around the globe, but one speaks to my frugal heart: beans. Said to symbolize coins or wealth, they're an excellent (and inexpensive) choice for entertaining.  I made a huge batch of chili, enough for our dinner table with friends and family, leftovers for our family's lunch the next day, and extras for a friend.

The recipe below stretches the most expensive ingredient - meat - with three kinds of beans, and the optional toppings on the side let diners choose how they want their bowl. I used my Instant Pot pressure cooker, but I've added variations for the stovetop or slow cooker as well. The recipe below serves about 20 for about $.55 per bowl (not including toppings), and is easily halved. 

I've included my prices, including beans and spices bought in bulk, but as always, your prices may vary. 

Chili for a Crowd

4 T vegetable oil ($.40)

2 lb. ground meat (I used a mix of ground pork and ground beef) ($4.98)

2 c. dry pinto beans ($.50)

2 c. dry kidney beans ($.75)

1 c. dry black beans ($.37)

2 medium onions, diced ($.50)

1 green pepper, diced ($.50)

1 stalk celery, diced ($.10)

3-14 oz. cans diced tomatoes ($1.50)

1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles ($.50)

1-5 oz. can tomato paste ($.41)

Seasonings - to taste, adjust for your liking and availability ($.35)

2 T chili powder 

1 1/2 T cumin

1 T smoked paprika

1 T garlic powder

1/2 T dried oregano

1/2 t cinnamon

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse, drain, and prepare dry beans. I cook beans, unsoaked, in the pressure cooker, covered by 2 inches of water, on the Bean setting. You may instead soak overnight and cook on the stovetop. Drain cooked beans.

2. Heat oil over medium-low heat in a large skillet. Add diced onion, green pepper, and celery. Cook until onion is translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Add seasonings and tomato paste to the vegetables and fry, stirring frequently. Once fragrant, add meat and cook until no longer pink, breaking into small pieces.

3. Combine beans, meat mixture, and tomatoes into the Instant Pot, large stovetop pot, or slow cooker. Stir together. The mixture will release more liquid as it cooks, so don't worry if it looks a little dry, but feel free to add a splash of water if the chili doesn't look moist.

Pressure Cooker: Use Beans/Chili button.

Stovetop: Bring to a light boil, then turn down to simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. 

Slow Cooker: Set for low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4 hours. 

4. Serve with toppings! Our favorites include:

• Sour cream
• Grated cheese
• Cilantro
• Green onion
• Diced white onion
• Corn chips
• Sliced olives 
• Lime wedges
• Hot sauce

What are your New Year's food traditions? And what are your favorite chili toppings? 

Middle Eastern lentils and rice with caramelized onions

This dish of lentils, rice, and caramelized onions, known as Mujadara, gets a lot of table time on Meatless Mondays in our house because it's just so tasty, simple, and hearty. 

This recipe makes 5 servings at $.37 per serving, not including optional toppings such as lemon, plain yogurt, or finely chopped parsley or cilantro. If your family receives WIC, this recipe works well with the ingredients you receive in your food package.

I use my Instant Pot pressure cooker, but give alternative stovetop instructions below if you don't have one. It doubles well and the leftovers are just as tasty served at room temperature, making this a great packed lunch.

Mujadara

Ingredients
olive oil
4 onions, thinly sliced ($1.00)
1 t cumin ($.05)
1 cinnamon stick ($.10)
1 c long grain white rice ($.15)
1 c dry brown lentils ($.54)

Method
1. In a large pan over low heat, heat the oil until it is shimmering. Add the thinly sliced onions. Stir frequently for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Salt and pepper to taste.

2. While the onions are cooking, prepare lentils.
Pressure Cooker Method: Cover lentils with 4 1/2 cups of water (or vegetable broth) and cook for 20 minutes at high pressure. Release pressure and add half of the onions as well as the uncooked rice, cumin, salt, pepper, and a cinnamon stick. Stir to combine and cook on the "rice" setting. If the lentils and rice are not cooked through, bring to pressure for another 2-3 minutes until tender.

Stove Top Method: Cover lentils with 4 1/2 cups of water (or vegetable broth) and simmer for 20 minutes. Add half of the onions as well as the uncooked rice, cumin, salt, pepper, and a cinnamon stick. Simmer, covered, over very low heat for 15-20 minutes, or until lentils and rice are tender.

3. As the lentils and rice cook, continue to stir the onions over low heat until they're dark brown and slightly crispy.

4. Remove cinnamon stick from the lentils and rice. Fluff with a fork. Serve with the brown onions on top.

Optionally, add a squeeze of lemon and a dollop of plain yogurt to the completed dish. You can also add finely chopped parsley or cilantro, to taste. As a side dish, I like a sliced cucumber and tomato salad dressed with a little red wine vinaigrette.

Beans with Sausage and Greens

I have made dozens of pots of this soup from a recipe originally found in the cookbook “Pressure Perfect,” by Lorna Sass, and tweaked to fit my flavor preferences over the years. You’ll find that variations come up over and over in our menu plans. It’s hearty, flavorful, and easily adaptable to what’s seasonally available and what’s on sale.

Plus, it stretches a more expensive ingredient - the sausage - to feed a crowd! While Lorna's recipe says this serves 4-6, we frequently get 10+ servings out of this when served with rice, pasta, or potatoes, and almost always for less than $.50 per serving.

This is not so much a recipe as a method. The ingredients are all variable and you can substitute almost everything and come up with a satisfying dish. Change out the greens, beans, and sausage for a different soup every time. Add extra vegetables. Add herbs and spices. Make it vegetarian by removing the sausage. The possibilities are endless. A few of our favorite combinations are kidney beans, andouille, and collards; Mexican chorizo, black beans, and spinach; cannellini beans, Italian sausage, and kale; and lemony lentils, chicken artichoke sausage, and spinach.

I make this in a pressure cooker, as the original recipe is written. I've added a stovetop and slow cooker variation below, and recommend that you soak your beans overnight if you use these methods. I personally prefer using an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker for cooking dry beans without needing to soak overnight.

Beans with Sausage and Greens

1 lb. fresh or frozen greens, such as kale, collards, Swiss chard, or spinach

1 lb. sausage, divided

1 lb. dry beans, soaked if using the stovetop or slow cooker method

1 1/2 c. chopped onions

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, diced

2+ cloves of peeled garlic

1 T olive oil (to prevent foaming in a pressure cooker)

1 Bay leaf (optional but enhances the flavor)

salt and pepper to taste

2 t vinegar - cider and red wine work well

If using fresh greens rinse them well. Remove the leaves from the stems. Trim tough ends and discard. Thinly slice ribs and stems. 

If using frozen greens, defrost and strain of excess liquid.

Dice a quarter of the sausage. Set aside remaining sausage. 

Put beans, sliced stems from greens, diced sausage, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, oil, and Bay leaf into a large pot and cover with water by about 2 inches. 

• Pressure cooker method: Lock lid in place and set for beans. When the cooking is complete, test that the beans are tender. If not, return to pressure for another few minutes. 
• Stovetop method: Bring to a gentle boil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Do not let them come to a high boil as this will make for a mushy consistency. Read package directions for cooking time, as some beans will cook quickly (20 minutes for lentils) and others take more time (such as chickpeas or pintos, which take several hours.) 
• Slow Cooker Method: Cook on low for 3-6 hours. (If using kidney beans, boil on the stove for 10 minutes before adding them to the slow cooker.)

If your sausage is not pre-cooked, pan fry it until cooked through. If using a hearty green like kale, collards, or Swiss chard, steam with water over medium-high until tender, using the same pan as your sausage to pull up any flavor left in the pan. You don't need to precook tender greens like fresh spinach, or frozen greens.

When the beans are cooked, remove the bay leaf. If the soup is too thin, mash some of the beans against the side of the pot. Add the cooked sausage, greens, vinegar, salt, and pepper to the soup. Let heat through at least 15 minutes so the flavors can combine. 

Serve with rice, pasta, or potatoes if you want to, or as is with a crusty piece of bread to dip. Delicious!