Monday Night Dinner: Cajun Beans and Rice with Chicken Andouille and Wilted Greens

Again, this is a quick and easy meal that uses pre-cooked brown rice.  I make rice on the weekends when I actually have the 45 minutes to wait while it cooks and then use it throughout the week.  Makes eating healthier a lot easier when you have it on hand.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 package (4 links) andouille chicken sausage (or 1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced if you're going vegetarian)
• 1-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 tsp cajun seasoning
• 1-3/4 cups (1 can) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups Swiss Chard, chopped in 2-inch pieces
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Directions

Slice sausage crosswise in 1/2-inch thick pieces.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan and cook onion, garlic, and sausage until browned.
Add cooked brown rice, black beans, and cajun seasoning.  Reduce heat to med-low.  Stir occasionally to make sure it's not burning to the bottom of the pan
Rinse and chop chard and add, wet, to a separate pan, cooking on med. When slightly wilted, add 1 Tbsp cider vinegar and 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Cook until tender.
Serve together: rice mix will be quite salty and rich, needing the tannic greens to balance it out.

Serves 5.

My suggestion for making this vegetarian is subbing in sweet potatoes and a 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes for the sausage.  You'll get the sweet spicy elements that the sausage provides without the cholesterol.