Black Beans and Rice in the Slow Cooker

Love using my crock pot, I really do.  It's convenient.  It makes the house smell wonderful.  It's perfect for nights like last night when Alex works until 8, and I don't feel like waiting that long for dinner.  The 'stay warm' feature means I can eat around 6ish, and there will still be a hot meal waiting for hubby when he gets home.  Just one problem: a lot of crock pot recipes call for unhealthy ingredients that I prefer to avoid: cream of ________ soups, pop, lots of sugar, etc....  But lots of internet exploration on my part has revealed several options out there that I'm trying one by one.  This recipe was found on a website called 5 Dollar Dinners.  So bonus - it's healthy and inexpensive!

Recipe:
1 cup black beans or 2 15 ounce cans (I used cans)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup brown rice
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt/pepper to taste

If using dried beans, soak beans overnight in water.  In the morning, drain and rinse.   Cook soaked beans in a saucepan with at least 2 inches of water over the beans for one hour.

Place olive oil in slow cooker.  Add brown rice and stir it around in the olive oil.

Add cooked or canned beans (drained), diced tomatoes (drain but reserve liquid in a measuring cup), garlic cloves, cumin, salt, and pepper.

You need at least 2 cups of liquid to cook this.  Fill the tomato juice measuring cup with enough water to meet 2 cups, add liquid to slow cooker, and stir all ingredients well.

I cooked on low for five hours.  If you are using white rice, you will probably need to reduce the cooking time.  Makes about 6 main course sized servings, more if it is used as a side dish.

Nutritional Information: (calculated at Spark Recipes)
Calories: 254
Total Fat 3.5 g
     Saturated Fat: 0.6 g
     Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.8 g
     Monounsaturated Fat: 1.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 g
Sodium: 20.5 mg
Potassium: 527.5 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 43.6 g
     Dietary Fiber:  13.6 g
     Sugars: 1.4 g
Protein: 13.9 g

Verdict:
To be honest, I didn't have high expectations for this meal.  Brown rice - blah.  Black beans - blah.  Canned tomatoes - blah.  But that is the magic of a crock pot.  Take a few blah ingredients, add a few spices, simmer, and let the flavors magically meld together.  Not that this will be winning any culinary prizes, but for an inexpensive and nutritious meal, it was quite flavorful.  Several of the online reviews complained of gloppy, mushy rice, but I didn't have that problem.  It was fully cooked by the end of the cooking time and still retained its individual grains, which took on the flavor of the spices and tomato juice.  Add a touch of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top for some pizazz, serve with an ear of Michigan-grown corn on the cob, and I'm a happy girl. 

P.S.  I snuck in two vegetarian meals this week.  In a row.  And Alex ate and enjoyed them both.  Food is healthy and life is good.