Quick Dinner: Rice, Beans, Greens & More

Pardon my poor photography. We can't all be as good as Josh Hooten.

I'm not interested in getting food on the table in 10 minutes every night. Quick just isn't a big priority to me, eating real food is - which is why I like to make everything from scratch. It's always better tasting, sometimes cheaper and always more fun. Yeah, our society is now so accustomed to fast food, fast everything, but we've compromised so much to have it quick. Just reading the labels on packaged foods, I automatically put just about everything back on the shelf and make it myself. I don't need all those additives and hydrogenated oils, etc. Just 'cause it's vegan, doesn't mean it's healthy!

So, I relax at the end of the day by chopping vegetables and hosting a dance party in the kitchen, tripping over the dog and enjoying an adult beverage.

But sometimes you need to have dinner, like, NOW. You realize it's 7:30, the kid has school in the morning and hasn't had a bath yet, and the dog has already gone to bed. We had this happen the other night. I was making beans from scratch but they weren't done cooking, and I'd already made the mango salsa I wanted to recipe test. But the kid couldn't wait for those beans! Time for some improv.

We had some leftover homemade guacamole and the baja queso from the Bandito Pizza night, and a bunch of brown rice in the fridge ('causes we always do). Add some of Ruby's favorite salsa from Trader Joe's, some salad greens, some canned refried beans, and dinner was born. We sprinkled some corn chip crumbs on top which made it crunchy good.

This took all of 10 minutes to throw together. And even if the guac had not been made, avocado chunks would have been perfect. Everything is pretty much something we have laying around, except the mango salsa. That can be the item you make "special" and the rest is fast and easy. There were lots of colors and flavors - and we all scraped our bowls clean.