cheap, fast, and easy

There used to be a club night in Philadelphia called Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control - I never actually went because it was a little too "punk" for my tastes - never was a big fan of punk or ska (punk's grandkid) and like I've mentioned, beer isn't really my thing, so $1 PBRs don't exactly get my fire burning.  But I like the idea - have a good time; eat, drink, and be merry, all for very little money and in very little time.

Let me introduce you to dinner:

Salsa Rice and Red Beans is quickly becoming one of my top 5 recipes in Vegan on the Cheap.  I don't really have top 5 lists, but if I did, this would be on it.  Depending on the rice you use and your [possibly] growing proficiency at cooking brown rice, this recipe gets faster-cooking every time I make it.  I don't know why I expect any recipe I make from a cookbook whose expressed purpose is not necessarily to get dinner on the table in under 30 minutes to take SOOooooo much longer than 30 minutes, but I'm always pleasantly surprised when I find a quick-cooking recipe in an unexpected place.

In my brain, anything involving brown rice will take upwards of one hour.

Fortunately, I don't know whether it's the basmati or the new [to me] stovetop, but I haven't had my usual trouble with brown rice since we moved.  Here's hoping the streak continues!