Cinco de Mayo! Celebrate with a Rice Bowl!

by Nicole on May 5, 2011

Good morning! Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope you have some guacamole, salsa and chips in your future today because I know we do!

Today is the last day of the ELA exam and I think we will all take a deep sigh…until next week when we have the math exam. As a teacher, you almost feel like it’s you taking the tests. It’s so draining..but the end is in sight!

I hope you liked my two money saving tips this week, about Amazon Subscribe and Save and the Tone it Up workouts. I love free things!

Last night we celebrated the start of Cinco de Mayo with this Rice and Bean Bowl. I highly recommend making this and having it in a bowl or in a tortilla.

If you are weary about lentils, then let me convince you. Lentils are a legume with a very hearty flavor and almost can taste slightly “meaty”. They are a high fiber food and also have significant amounts of folate and magnesium, which improves the flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients in the body. Lentils also help stabilize blood sugar because of it’s high fiber content and can increase your energy by replacing iron in your body. Convinced?

lentils

Rice and Bean Bowl

Ingredients

  • 2 servings, cooked short brown rice
  • 1 can fat free refried beans
  • 1 cup lentils, cooked
  • 2 medium zucchini, diced
  • 1/2 packed sliced mushrooms
  • 1 pepper, any color
  • 3-4 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • small handful of fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried basil)
  • 1/2 cup low sodium vegetable broth
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • optional: a handful of tortilla chips, crumbled up (I used Trader Joe’s Soy and Flax Seed Tortilla Chips)
  • optional: tofu, cut into slices, baked in vegetable broth, salt and pepper in the oven (at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, flip 1/2way)
  • optional: mexican cheese for topping
  1. Cook zucchini, mushrooms, pepper and spinach in 1/2 cup vegetable broth until cooked through, stirring frequently.
  2. Heat up refried beans in microwave (1 minute, stir, the heat for 1 more minute).
  3. Take a bowl and layer in the following order:  1/4-1/2 cup brown rice, 1 large scoop refried beans, 2 scoops lentils, tofu, veggies, cheese. Top with crumbled tortillas. *Note: feel free to leave out any of the ingredients, or add meat.

So go ahead and treat yourself to this dish and a nice margarita tonight! Happy Cinco de Mayo!

What’s your favorite Cinco de Mayo dish?

Something to do: If you haven’t seen my new website for Health Coaching yet, please check it out! I’m running a special on customized meal plans as a spring special!

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Tagged as: beans, cinco de mayo, dinner, fiber, health, health-specialty-diet, legumes, lentils, protein, recipe, rice

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Kelly May 5, 2011 at 12:12 pm

I definitely think I see black bean burritos in my furture tonight.
Kelly recently posted..highs and lowsMy ComLuv Profile

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Sarena (The Non-Dairy Queen) May 5, 2011 at 1:41 pm

We just had Mexican the other day, so we aren’t doing anything today. This looks perfect though.

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Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic May 5, 2011 at 3:00 pm

I love rice bowls with brown rice! I really need to experiment more with lentils. This sounds great!

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MelissaNibbles May 6, 2011 at 9:58 am

I love lentils. This looks fantastic!

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