Slow Cooker Black Beans and Rice

Wow, it's been a really long time since I posted anything about cooking! I was doing pretty well there for a while trying new recipes, but since our condo went on the market I haven't really been able to use our kitchen (I'm a really messy cook), so I've taken quite the hiatus. But this past weekend I was doing some chores which included organizing our pantry, and I came across some large containers of black beans and rice that were left over from a party at my boss's house. So I decided it was time to use them.

Slow Cooker Black Beans and Rice 

• 1 cup black beans
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup white rice
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Salt and pepper

Soak beans overnight in water. In the morning, drain and rise. Cook soaked beans for an hour in a saucepan with at least two inches of water over the beans. Place olive oil into slow cooker. Stir rice around in the olive oil. Add cooked black beans, diced tomatoes, garlic cloves, ground cumin, salt and pepper, AND two cups of water. Set on high for four hours.

Let me just clarify that if I didn't already have dry black beans in my pantry I would NEVER cook them from scratch like this again. What a royal pain in the behind. I know it's supposed to be super cheap to purchase and cook them this way, but my time has value, too! In any case it felt good to use them up. I also used diced tomatoes and green chilies because that's what I had on hand, and that gave the dish a nice little spicy kick. I actually had enough ingredients to make two batches, and to the second one I added two frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts for Stew. That worked okay except for some reason the beans and rice in that batch were a little underdone, so I guess if you add chicken add a little more time.

This is a great comfort food recipe and it makes a ton of servings that you can stack up in your fridge or freezer and reheat throughout the week. If you're not vegetarian you can add chicken or another protein, and I like adding avocado and ranch dressing on top.

Bon appétit!