"Pretty Quick Pinto Picadillo"

It's Tuesday and that means it's time for another Tasty Tuesday link up with Fairytales and Fitness and Lean Lena.

A while ago, I saw Quick Fix Vegetarian by Robin Robertson on sale for Kindle so I snatched it up. It has some interesting recipes and the first one I tried was called "Pretty Quick Pinto Picadillo." It's another variation on rice and beans but it had some interesting flavors so I gave it a try.

Here's my interpretation of the recipe and it made 4 servings.

Ingredients:

1.5 cup uncooked rice (I reduced this to 1 cup since that's our usual amount for 4 servings)

 1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced bell pepper

2 cloves garlic (I used garlic powder instead)

1 can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 Granny Smith apple, chopped

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup pimento stuffed olives, sliced (I used a variety of olives from the olive bar at the grocery store instead of buying a whole jar I wouldn't finish)

2 tbsp chopped canned green chiles (I used a fresh jalapeno)

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp toasted slivered almonds

Salt and pepper to taste

I have to be more careful with an e-cookbook!

I cooked the rice separately in a rice cooker.  If you don't have a rice cooker it can of course be cooked in a pot on the stove top.  I just like the rice cooker so I can put it in to cook and forget about it while I prepare the rest of the dish.

Once the rice is started, heat the oil in a pan.  Then sauté the onions, garlic and peppers until soft. Next I added in all the rest of the ingredients except the parsley and almonds. I probably added some smoked paprika because I end up putting it in almost everything.  It all cooked together at a simmer for about 15 minutes. Then serve over rice and top with the parsley and almonds.

The finished meal!

It was pretty good and an interesting variation on rice and beans. I liked the salty punch of the olives. It was a little sweet for me so I would probably cut down on the raisins and apple next time but it's definitely something I would eat again.  The recipe also indicates that the dish can be served with guacamole, salsa, or as a burrito filling.