Skull Valley Rice 'n' Beans

An awesome person I know has a much-loved recipe charmingly called Skull Valley. She has described it simply as taco meat and fixings on rice. I don't know why it's called Skull Valley but I love the name!

Rice and beans are an excellent vegetarian combo, as they make a complete protein together. It's a whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts thing. Rice n beans are great, but rice n beans with some ground bison and veggies thrown in? Now we're talking! This dish is my morphed version of Skull Valley and rice n beans, so happy together!

There's a lot of choppin', so watch your fingers!

Skull Valley Rice 'n' Beans

3/4C red and brown jasmine rice or some other whole-grain rice blend
olive oil cooking spray
350g ground bison (ground turkey would also work great here)
1 red pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 jalepeno pepper, finely minced
4 large mushrooms, chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper
3/4C cooked black beans
hot sauces, to taste

Cooke the rice according to directions. In the meantime, heat a large frying pan or wok on med-high and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Add the onion, red pepper, jalepeno,and bison, using spoon to break up the ground meat. When the bison begins to brown, add the mushrooms and spices and turn heat to high. Cook, stirring constantly,until all liquid had evaporated and the meat is cooked through. Add the black beans, then season with hot sauces of your choice (I usually have about half a dozen on hand!) or just salt and pepper to taste. When the rice is cooked, toss that in too and combine.

Garnish with cilantro, Biobest plain yogurt, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, salsa,and whatever else tickles your fancy.

Nutritional values: For 1/3 of recipe (I like to make extra servings for lunches)not including garnishes, 379 calories, 5.5g fat, 32g protein, 54g carbs, 7g fibre, 400mg sodium.