Stick with me folks.

Meatless Monday has got me in a rut. If you're a new reader, part of my menu plan is to make something sans meat on Mondays, because it's healthy, cheap, and gentler on animals and our planet. But lately, it seems like all I make is beans and rice. Which is good but hardly exciting. So today, I made, drum roll please....beans and rice! But it was unique, I swear.

Tex Mex Bean Pie (this name has not been trademarked and is subject to change. I'm actually shocked at myself for using the phrase "Tex Mex")

1/2 an onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 TBSP butter
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 cups leftover cooked rice
1 portion frozen cooked beans, or 1 can drained. Today we had pinto; black or kidney would work fine
1 cup cheese, Cheddar or Monterey Jack
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup milk

Heat oven to 350.

Over medium low heat, sweat the onion and garlic in butter until it becomes translucent. Add cumin, chili powder and salt and stir to combine, remove from heat. You may need to use a splash of white wine or vegetable stock to pick up all the seasonings. Add rice, beans, cheese, beaten eggs and milk. Stir well to combine and then pour into a greased pie plate. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, and then let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Garnish with sour cream, salsa, cilantro if you like that kind of thing.

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The menfolk will probably be fairly dubious when they glimpse this thing. Tell them to suck it up, it really does taste good. To take the edge off for them, I serve it with cornbread muffins, which menfolk of all age seem to dig. Cornbread is typically baked at 400 degrees, but my oven is at 350 for the bean pie, and I'm not the kind of girl to make them separately in order to be proper. They'll take a bit longer this way.

Cornbread muffins, made with honey and love.

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
4 TBSP butter, melted
2 TBSP honey

Heat oven to 350.

Combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just to combine. Divide batter evenly into a muffin tin lined with 12 paper cups. Bake until lightly golden, about 25 minutes.

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