Southwestern Rice and Bean Bowl

Thank you, past and present veterans for your services, bravery, commitment, honor, heroism, and in some cases, your lives, in keeping America and her citizens safe and free!

This past June Johnny and I went with some other family members to a memorial of the 65th anniversary of D-Day. There were 250 WWII veterans there, including over 50 who were on the beach in Normandy during D-Day. Many wore their uniforms, a lot were in wheelchairs, but all held their heads up high and just nodded a quick, modest acknowledgement if you thanked them for their services. During the raising of the colors and singing of the national anthem, all of them, even the wheelchair bound, stood and put their hands on their hearts, or saluted. I had never seen anything like it, and it brought tears to my eyes then and now, remembering it. If you ever have a chance to experience something like that, visit a memorial, visit a museum, or even talk to a relative that's a veteran, I highly suggest it. I will never look at Veteran's Day or Memorial Day in the same light for the rest of my life.

(The above picture is a portion of the crowd bowing their heads in prayer and remembrance as a 92 year old chaplain and D-Day veteran speaks.)



I posted this dish way back when I started the blog, but I rambled on forever and didn't even post any pics! Bad food blogger!

This is a stand-by favorite in our house. We have it maybe once or twice a month.

1 cup white rice
2 cups water
1 cup salsa of choice (we use Newman's Own)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 can black beans, drained
toppings of choice

In a medium pot add the rice and water (you could substitute quinoa, which I've done before). Bring to a boil, stir, and reduce to simmer, covered. Set the timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir in the salsa, corn, and black beans. Turn the heat up just a hair, return the lid, and set the timer for another 10 minutes.

Serve in a big bowl.

Then sprinkle cheese over top.

Then put a dollop of sour cream.

If you wanted, you could also slice up avocados, serve with chips, or other toppings of your choice. Get creative!

We continued with the southwestern theme and served up with big glasses of icy margaritas, rimmed in salt!


We won the glasses, tequila, and margarita mix at the Halloween party, remember?!