Mexican Haystacks

This recipe came from I Dare You To Eat It. It is WONDERFUL!!! I experimented and made the Pico de Gallo from canned tomatoes and dry ingredients from my pantry. The only fresh item I had was green onions - which came from my garden. It was GREAT! We loved it and I think I'll do it again. So...on to the Rice and Beans...or as I called it "Mexican Haystacks."

***The remainder of this post is copied directly from I Dare You To Eat It, and can be accessed from the link above***

RICE AND BEANS! RICE AND BEANS! RICE AND BEANS!

This is my new chant. I’ve recently learned how much I**LOVE**RICE**AND**BEANS!!! There are important nutritional details about how the combination of rice and beans provide “whole proteins”…which I don’t really understand…so I’ll just plant a flag that says they are healthy, ridiculously inexpensive, and yum-a-rama!

My conversions began months ago when dearest Kris invited our family to her home for dinner and served us a delightful meal of rice and beans. Ever since then we’ve been faithful followers and continue to enjoy this vegetarian delight on a regular basis.

All you need to do is cook some rice and beans from your long-term storage. I like to prepare both of these in large quantities so that I have them ready and waiting in the refrigerator or freezer.

I’m all about mass-production in order to save time. You could use white rice, or brown rice, or either rice mixed with wheat berries. We prefer black beans but pinto beans would also be great.

From a three-month supply I use a can of sliced black olives and bottled salsa, in a pinch.

The fresh ingredients are just the basic toppings you would normally use for a taco salad. We like grated cheese, diced green peppers, sour cream, fresh avocado, and

Kris’s Famous Pico De Gallo:

8-10 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced

1/2 cup green onion, sliced

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

2 limes, juiced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

Mix all the ingredients and chill for an hour or two. Good luck with that.

After the fresh salsa has been made, we spoon a bed of hot rice onto each plate, add a scoop of warm black beans, and then all the other toppings as desired. This is a wonderful, healthy, lite and easy meal that everyone enjoys! No one on our team has missed the meat. Of course you could add a little grilled chicken or beef but you really don’t need to. The rice and beans combined with all the other flavors are completely satisfying and filling without being too heavy. Promise me you’ll try this!