Our New Fast Food

With busy lives, we needed something quick and easy to feed our family for those need to get somewhere moments. The solution so far has been a rice, black beans, and pico de gallo mixture. Our rice maker has been extremely handy and in high use since my son's food issues began. We splurged on a high end rice cooker a few years ago after hearing the praises of the Zojirushi induction heating technology. We love it! It is extremely simple to use and clean plus makes great rice. We make up a batch whenever we get low.

For our fresh pico, we had to stop the oh so convenient purchasing of the fresh pico de gallo from the store. The labeling indicated it was made in a facility using items our son could not tolerate. So, I pulled out a favorite pico recipe I save for summer when our garden tomatoes start producing. I really like this recipe but substitute on-the-vine tomatoes for the romas. Basically, we have all three products in our refrigerator ready for use. I just reheat the beans and rice then mix in the pico de gallo. I add avocado to mine but my 1 year old prefers it with the Black Bean Spread mixed in. Super simple!

Ingredients for Pico de Gallo:

5 on-the-vine tomatoes, cored and chopped

1/2 red onion, minced

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/2 lime, juiced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pinch ground cumin

1 pinch garlic powder (optional)

salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Stir everything together. Refrigerate 3 hours before serving.

Rating:

3/5 like it (my 6 and 4 year olds won't try it, however the 4 year old likes the pico with tortilla chips)

Food Allergy/Intolerance Notes:

Relying on someone else to prepare foods increases the chance that the food is contaminated with other food products not listed in the ingredient list. Once again, check labels and ask to make sure store prepared foods are safe.