Mexican Beans and Rice

I cooked this again tonight and decided it was time to re-post it. 
My Aunt Jo originally posted it and I make it quite regularly in the colder months.  
I made a few changes for my family ... I'm adding those notes in RED.

1 ½ cup water
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 green bell pepper, chopped (we all prefer red bell pepper)
1 can red kidney beans
1 can chopped tomatoes
¾ cup uncooked long-grain rice (I use brown rice)
1 Tbsp chili powder (Australian chili powder is ground chili and SUPER HOT! I only use a pinch)
2 tsp cumin
1 cup mozzarella cheese (I use a mozz/cheddar blend)

In large saucepan, sauté onion, garlic, and green pepper in water. Simmer, stirring often, until onion is tender. Add beans, tomatoes, rice, chili powder and cumin. Simmer, covered, 20-25 minutes until rice is tender and most of liquid absorbed. (Keep an eye that you don’t run out of liquid before the rice is done. Since I also use the liquid in the tomato and bean cans, I sometimes have to boil the mixture, uncovered, at the end to reduce the liquid.) When rice is done and most of the liquid absorbed, top with cheese. When cheese is all melted, serve and enjoy.

Tonight I served these with quesadillas.

Green Chili - A La Liz

I love Ak's green chili recipe but since I don't live in Colorado anymore, it's hard to get all the ingredients. Does that mean I should stop making this delicious dish?

Heaven forbid!

Necessity is, as they say, the Mother of Invention. Apparently the Father of this invention is the international grocery store!

I also added beans because chili should have beans. And also because there are a lot of us to feed and it needed to stretch. And, ya know, fiber, health, blah blah. I chose navy beans, in honor of UJ. Go Navy!

Green Chili A La Liz

My fancy to-go box. What can I say? I was too busy shoveling it in my
face to take a picture in the nice bowl.

3T vegetable oil (have more oil in case you need to adjust the thickening)

2-3 lbs boneless pork butt cut into 1/2 “ cubes

1/2 c flour (have more flour in case you need to adjust the thickening)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 white onion, chopped

6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

2 (7 oz) cans chopped green chilis

2 (7 oz) cans green Mexican salsa

1 (14 oz) can tomatillos, drained and crushed

2 cans navy beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups chicken broth

Coat pork in flour, salt and pepper. Fry in oil until brown and crusty beautiful. Throw in onions and garlic, fry until fragrant. Deglaze pan with the chicken broth. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Simmer 20-30 minutes or until pork is nice and tender. Adjust thickening if necessary with more flour brown in oil.

Serve with rice and your choice of garnishes. I like avocado, sour cream and cilantro. 

Serves 6