BRAZILIAN BEANS AND RICE

This meal was so refreshingly different from our current meals. I loved it! I tweaked the recipe just a little from a recipe I found on Livvy'ssite  (and she tweaked it a little from a recipe she found on Erin's). 

My list of ingredients was as follows:

• 1 C sprouted brown rice
• 2 C water
• 1 C tomato sauce
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced tiny
• 1 red or orange bell pepper, diced tiny
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1.5 C vegetable broth
• 1 sweet potato, diced small
• 2 carrots, diced small
• 1/2 t thyme
• 1/2 t oregano
• 2 t cumin
• 1/2 t red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper
• 1 C black beans
• 1/2 C cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 limes, juiced 
• Optional Toppings: avocado, banana

Bring the water and tomato sauce to a boil. Add the rice and simmer until cooked through (mine took about 45 minutes). 

Meanwhile, saute the onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil. Then add in the broth, sweet potato, carrots and spices. Simmer until the veggies are tender. Add the black beans, cilantro, and lime juice. 

Serve the bean mixture over rice or just mix it all together (we mixed it). 

I served it with avocado and banana slices. I know... bananas sound so weird, but try it! We grew up eating a different Brazilian rice and beans recipe (to be posted later) and always ate it with bananas and sour cream on top (Thanks to my Dad who lived in Brazil for a few years!). Deelish!