Black Bean and Vegetable Rice

Black Bean and Vegetable Pasta (or Rice or Potatoes)

Ingredients

• 1 (500g) packet whole wheat fusilli pasta (or rice or potatoes)
• 350ml (12 fl oz) vegetable stock
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 medium red onion, chopped 2 shallots, chopped
• 2 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 (400g) tin black beans black eyed beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 head of broccoli
• 3 small tomatoes, diced

1. Cook pasta/rice/potatoes according to packet instructions; drain and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring the vegetable stock to a boil. Reduce heat, and mix in onion and garlic. Stir in the black eyed beans, carrots and broccoli. Continue to cook and stir 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir the tomatoes into the saucepan, and continue cooking 10 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender. Serve over the cooked pasta/rice/potatoes. 

Modified from  http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1009/black-bean-and-vegetable-pasta.aspx

This recipe in a nutshell: There are no black beans in Galway City, I miss my rice cooker, and I continue to think shallots are mini red onions.

You will notice that there are neither black beans nor pasta in this recipe. The latter is explainable - I had rice I needed to use up. The former is not - I went to Lidl, Tesco and Dunnes but I couldn't find black beans anywhere. Weird.

As for the shallots, I needed to use them up as well so there was no point in buying another onion.

I miss my rice cooker, I really do. It might be the quality of the rice I'm using (very low) and/or it might be my skill at cooking rice. Either way, the rice has turned out tasteless. The meal doesn't taste like much and I don't think either the cayenne pepper or spinach that I skipped would have helped matters. 

I definitely won't be making this again.

Black Eyed Beans, 400g: EUR 0.95 at Tesco

2 Carrots, 1/6 of a bag at EUR 0.99/bag = EUR 0.17 at Tesco

3 Tomatoes: EUR 1.31 at Lidl

Broccoli: EUR 0.32 at Tesco

Vegetable Stock Cub, 1 of 4 at EUR 1.50/package = EUR 0.38 at Tesco

Shallots, 2 of 6 at EUR 0.79/bag = EUR 0.26 at Lidl

Garlic, 1/4 of a bulb at EUR 0.85 for 4 bulbs = EUR 0.06 at Lidl

Rice, 1/4 of a bag of a bag at EUR 1.49/bag = EUR 0.37 at Lidl

Total Cost: EUR 3.82 for 3 servings, or EUR 1.27 for one serving

Friday March 1: Tuna Sweet Potato Jackets

Saturday March 2: Banana Yogurt Pots

Sunday March 3: Grilled Sausages with Tomato and Sweet Potatoes

Monday March 4: Smoked Salmon, Leek and Potato Soup

Tuesday March 5: Raspberry and Blackberry Yogurt Pots, Black Bean and Vegetable Rice