I don’t know about you, but I could eat Mexican food every day of the week. I find it is a cuisine that EVERYBODY loves and many dishes are easy and quick to make without using a recipe. Of course, I love to make modifications to remove food additives while boosting the nutritional value. This recipe does just that. It is also gluten free, and can be vegetarian and SCD friendly. Let’s just say it’s a “jack of all trades.”

I love making this recipe when I need to go grocery shopping as I tend to have these ingredients on hand. If I am out of fresh vegetables, I use frozen (see variations section below). If I’m out of onion, I add 1 Tbsp onion powder instead. It is that forgiving.

Serves: 4-6

Prep time: Depends on variation you are making. For shortest time, use canned beans + frozen vegetable variation below and prep time will be 10 minutes or less

Ingredients:

• Olive oil OR avocado oil x 1.5-2 Tbsp
• 1 medium onion finely diced
• 3 garlic gloves chopped
• 1 diced bell pepper
• ½-1 cup chopped mushrooms (pick your favorite kind)
• 1 heaping cup brown rice of any kind (long or short grain)
• 2, 14/15-oz cans diced or crushed tomatoes (optional – fire roasted tomatoes for flavor)
• 1 tsp cumin*
• ½ tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder*
• 1-2 tsp dried oregano
• Salt to your taste (~1 tsp)
• 1-1.5 cans rinsed pinto, kidney or black beans
• ¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro
• Optional: cayenne pepper to taste (cayenne is spicy so add slowly starting with ~1/4 tsp and taste before adding more)

Ideas for Toppings: Diced avocado, full- fat Greek yogurt or SCD yogurt in place of sour cream, favorite hot sauce, cilantro and grated cheese, shredded cabbage

Method:

• In a heavy bottomed pot, heat oil (I use a 7 qt dutch oven)
• Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent ~5-10 min
• Add in bell pepper, mushroom and sauté until soft ~10 min
• Add brown rice, stir and cook ~5 min
• Add 2 cans of tomatoes (juice included)
• Add cumin, pepper, chili powder, oregano, salt
• Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to low and cover while simmering. Cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender ~30-45 minutes. If rice is still chewy, may need to add a little water or any kind of stock if you have this on hand.
• Add beans the last 10-15 minutes and cover
• Serve and enjoy with toppings listed above.

*spices- I usually add up to 1 Tbsp cumin and 1 Tbsp chili powder because we love the flavor and the anti-inflammatory benefits from cumin. Not everyone enjoys tasting these, so start with 1 tsp and do not be afraid to add more.

Variations:

Meat options

• Chicken – Add pieces of boned leftover cooked/roasted chicken the last 10-15 minutes in place of or in addition to beans
• Ground beef – add 1 lb browned ground beef. I like to brown the beef at the very beginning before adding onions/garlic. Then, remove beef and set aside. Add beef to the simmering dish ~10 minutes before it is done cooking.

Frozen Vegetables

• If out of fresh vegetables, use frozen instead- that’s what I do to get our veggies in!
  • After rice has been cooking for ~10-15 minutes, add 1-2 cups frozen veggies of any kind (i.e. corn, peas, butternut squash, cut green beans, small broccoli or cauliflower florets, chopped spinach, zucchini)

To make SCD friendly

• If on the strict SCD (i.e. no rice), this dish will come out more like a stew without the rice. Omit step 4 above unless rice is in your diet and simmer until some of the water is gone. Serve over spiralized noodles/squash or eat on its own with toppings above.
• Beans – replace canned beans with soaked/cooked beans (cook before adding to this dish, follow remaining steps).
• Canned tomatoes – ensure no additives (i.e. natural flavors, other names you cannot pronounce on the ingredients list. Tomatoes, tomato juice, ascorbic acid, salt are all okay)
• Use SCD yogurt in place of sour cream

Baby fact

my 1 year old loves this dish as much as we do and it is a great way to get in the veggies since they are seasoned and chopped/cooked well.

Voila! This is a nutrient dense recipe. Here are some of my favorite nutrients in this dish:

Beans – high in iron, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc

Tomatoes –  source of the antioxidant lycopene, vitamin C, potassium, folate and vitamin K

Brown rice – Excellent source of fiber, B vitamins thiamine, niacin, pyridoxine

Vegetables – I could go on and on but the little one is getting antsy so I will end here!

Let me know what you think of this recipe by commenting below or tag @kimbralynutrition on Facebook or Instagram. I would LOVE to see how you modify the recipe to meet your needs!