Leftovers - Two Ways

I am a huge proponent of leftovers for several reasons.  First, I hate wasting food.  Good food is expensive, so I don't like to throw it away.  Second, they're easy, and most people don't want to cook something elaborate for every meal. You might think because I have a cooking blog that I do, but I don't.  I time things so you don't have to see that I eat egg sandwiches all the time.

These leftovers use the remnants from last weekend's chili recipe: extra black beans and diced red onion.


Barbecue Black Bean Quesadilla

You can put almost anything in a tortilla with a little cheese and call it a quesadilla.

Ingredients:
Whole wheat tortilla
Barbecue sauce
Black beans
Red Onion, diced
Shredded cheddar cheese

Quantities will vary depending on the size of your tortilla.  Mine was about 8 inches, and I used about a T. of sauce, 3 T. of black beans, 1 T. of onions, and 3 T. of cheese.

I folded the tortilla in half and popped it in the toaster oven at 450 for about 5-7 minutes until it was lightly browned and the cheese melted.  It was admittedly a little messy to eat because some of the beans fell out, so I might mash them a bit next time.  

Black Bean Bowl

The other night I walked in the house ready to gnaw off my arm if I didn't get something to eat right away.  Mind you, this was at 5:15, so I had my very own little early bird special.  In any case, this bowl came together in less than 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

olive oil

red onion

bell pepper

spices - cumin, chili powder

black beans

avocado, mango, jalapeno slices (optional for topping)

Start by heating the olive oil in a pan and cooking the onion and pepper for a couple minutes.  These were the rest of the chopped onions I had done for topping the chili, so they were already prepped.  I wasn't concerned about cooking the vegetables, just taking the bite out of them a bit. 

After a couple minutes, I added the black beans, cumin, and chili powder.  On a side note, I go through cumin at an alarming rate.  I think this brand is from the random ethnic section at the market.  Penzeys Spices are some of the best I've had.  I received an assortment as part of a wedding gift, and the ones I haven't finished are still good.  

There's no rule as to what you add into the mixture.  You could include other vegetables like tomatoes or garlic, and spices such as coriander or cayenne.  

If you're feeling ambitious, this would be great over some brown rice, but there was no way I was waiting 25 minutes for rice to cook.  

Topped with avocado, mango, and a few picked jalapeno slices.