Pink Beans and Rice

A few weeks ago, I found a vegan blog with, what I think is, the funniest title: I Eat Food.  No duh.  But the recipes on it looked delish, and I couldn't wait to try some of them.  (I did find one really odd thing about the author though; he doesn't like mushrooms!  Oh, horrors of horrors!)  I found a recipe that seemed to be heaven sent just for me- Pink Beans and Rice.  Lately, I have still been craving rice for some really strange reason, and I still have a huge bag of pink beans floating around that need to be used up.  I also just happened to have some Morning Star burger crumbles on hand, and so the dish was born. 
I have to say, it has a bit of a Mexican flair, which was just right with me.  This is, as I pointed out to M, a great dish for sore muscles... which seem to be a problem with us this weekend!  (Blame the YMCA instructors)  Once the prepwork for this dish is done- meaning cooking the rice and beans- it should take all of 15 minutes working time to throw in a pot and let simmer.  And the results are excellent!  Nice and warming, filling, and a very nice mixture of flavours that would probably go well with almost any other dish.  Great for cooler weather, and it makes a ton.

Pink Beans and Rice

Adapted from I Eat Food

Serves 8

1 1/3 cup dried pink beans, cooked
1 large pinch red pepper flakes
1 large onion, chopped
1 smallish bell pepper, chopped small
6 cloves garlic, pressed

1 ½ cups boca crumbles

2 cups canned tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 tbsp Better Than Bullion Vegetarian Beef Flavour
2 tbsp bbq sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1 1/4 cups uncooked brown rice, cooked (which equals 3 1/3 cup cooked)

Heat a large dutch oven coated with nonstick spray over medium high heat with a bit of water. Add the onions, and sauté until soft, about 7-8 minutes. Add the bell pepper and garlic, and for a couple minutes more, until they are cooked. Add all of the ingredients except the rice, and simmer for 20 minutes, covered. Stir in the rice, and cook for 10 more minutes, adding water to get the texture you desire. Serve.