‘Black Beans’ Articles at Sweetnicks

I have been to Chipotle exactly three times. Each time, I’ve ordered the exact same thing. Rut much? But when it’s so very good, why deviate, right? After the last time that my friend Beth and I went, I decided to get to work on recreating my favorite dish at home. After all, it really was just a combination of a few different components, packed with fresh ingredients and clean eating to the very last bite. Why shouldn’t I enjoy it at home?

When you order the salad at Chipotle, you start with the base of lettuce and build from there, deciding on your meat option, which salsa you want, whether you want red beans or black, rice or not, corn or not, guacamole, sour cream and so on down the line. When I’m ordering, I go with carnitas (pork), black beans, fresh salsa, cilantro lime rice and guacamole. Although it comes with dressing, I swear you don’t need it. All the other flavors mingle together to do a happy little dance in your mouth without it. The salad is filling, utterly satisfying and guilt-free.

As far as a recipe goes, the most important one you need is for the carnitas. It’s super simple since it just hangs out in your crockpot. The pork is insanely tender, coming apart with just the touch of your fork after it’s done.

To assemble your dish? When serving, I put out lettuce leaves in a big bowl, and then separate bowls for the pork, black beans, fresh salsa, guacamole (avocado, cilantro, sea salt and lemon juice, that’s it people), and cilantro lime rice (last weekend, I used my own made up version, but I have since found this copycat version, which I’ll be trying tomorrow night). This way, everyone could build their Carnitas Salad the way they see fit. And now with the recipe below, you can too, so hop to it. It’s so very good, especially when all put together … your only regret will be not having had it sooner.

Project 365
March 4, 2011, Photo #62
Went to a fundraiser tonight at a new (to me) gym, which is, by all accounts, more like a spa resort than a place to go sweat. Loved this poster on the way out.

Bonus picture from Thursday night. Jamie taught the kids the art of eating whipped cream from a can. As you can tell by the look of pure joy on Madeline’s face, she was fighting every second of it….

Out of all the things I could miss about being married, you wouldn’t think The Ex’s cooking would be on the list. But it is. Of course it’s not the tippy-top thing, but he had a few core dishes that I definitely have a hankering for every now and then. A wonderful yellow rice with green olives that he usually made with roast chicken. I craved that a lot, particularly the olives, when I was pregnant with Madeline. Cuban black beans. The kids adore his black beans over white rice. And when I was in the mood for it, picadillo. And now? I got nothing. I think I can work out a trade though. The yellow rice for a batch of his favorite mini cheesecakes. What can I say? Food is still a universal language, even through the twists and turns of relationships that end in divorce.

When I spied a recipe for black beans in a recent issue of Delish’s Easy Low-Cal Meals, I tore it out, knowing that even though it wasn’t The Ex’s version, the kids would eat it up. It’s a crazy simple recipe, and while it isn’t identical (I have a few recipes that are a bit closer), it was close enough for a trial run. I added cumin to it (force of habit since The Ex always did and most recipes call for it) and skipped the liquid smoke (mostly because I could swear I had some, but it seems to have disappeared). I would do less onion next time because it saves Nick painstakingly picking them out of his portion. And am personally not a fan of recipes that call for 1-1/3 cups of black beans, because that’s one full can and a little bit. Seriously, why can’t they alter the recipes’ yield so that it calls for either one full can or two? The little bits leftover, by the way, would be great in a quesadilla with melted cheese and some chicken. But aside from all that, I would make the recipe again, and it was perfect alongside some tri-tip steak and roasted asparagus. I might have eaten the whole bunch of asparagus myself. Once I start, it’s so very hard to stop. Good thing it’s uber-healthy.

Project 365
June 2, 2010, Photo #104

The hunt for rerows has been challenging at best. After checking a ridiculous amount of stores, I headed off to look for transfers or patches that I could put on plain shirts. We went to Michael’s, Wal-Mart, and A.C. Moore. Would you believe none of them sell rainbow appliques? Craziness. I swear I’m going to start making rainbow shirts and stock an Etsy shop.

The current issue of Parents magazine has a rainbow bathing suit featured on the cover, and I found that it is sold at Gymboree. After a visit to the store, they, of course, don’t have it, but they did have it in shirt form instead. While it’s not a *true* rainbow given the colors shown, it was close enough that Madeline would wear it. My mom has had some success recently at Kohls and TJ Maxx, finding her two pairs of pajamas and a short set, and in the meantime, I have bought a bunch of fabric and am going to attempt to make my own rainbow shirt. If I’m successful, you can bet I’ll let you know when the Etsy shop launches! Until then, the search continues.

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Recipe: Carnitas Salad

Recipe: Fat-Free Refried Beans