My Favorite Friday Dinner Is Packed with Anti-Inflammatory Ingredients—and It's Made with Mostly Pantry Staples

I love to cook, but sometimes answering the question of what’s for dinner can be stressful—especially during the week, when deadlines and other commitments take priority. And when I’m hungry at the end of the day and don’t have a dinner plan in place, that’s when I’ll raid the fridge for random ingredients in hopes of throwing something together quickly, or order takeout. 

While I’m not a meal prepper, you will find me batch-cooking big pots of soup or casseroles on Sundays (when I have the time and space to enjoy the process of cooking) and reheating the leftovers on the following days. When we’ve run out of leftovers, my husband and I make quicker, less complex meals, like our go-to Friday night meal: black beans and rice.

Related: Our Favorite Recipes to Make With a Can of Black Beans

I wasn’t always a big fan of beans, but I started eating them regularly during the pandemic since they are cheap and shelf-stable. I like the convenience of canned beans, which require no prep work other than reheating them. Our beans and rice dish came about by simply throwing our favorite ingredients into a bowl with some black beans: steamed white rice, sautéed kale, sliced avocado, chopped onion and a squeeze of lime juice.

To make it, I start by rinsing some white rice and popping it into a rice cooker. The rest of the meal comes together pretty quickly, so I’ll usually put the rice on about an hour before we want to eat so that it’s cooked and ready to go. My rice cooker takes 45 minutes to make white rice, and if we want to eat our meal as soon as the rice is finished cooking, I start prepping the other ingredients when there are 15 minutes left on the timer. I chop an onion, slice up an avocado and cut a lime in half. 

Next, I dump a can of black beans, liquid and all, in a saucepan, add most of the chopped onion (I like to reserve a bit for topping the bowls) and warm it over medium heat. When the liquid around the beans starts bubbling, I turn the heat down to low, giving it a mix to ensure the onions soften. I don’t rinse the beans because I like the flavor the liquid adds to the dish, but I do drain them slightly when assembling the dish by tilting the serving spoon full of beans along the side of the saucepan. If you’re watching your sodium intake, you can buy no-salt-added canned beans and/or rinse and drain them. 

Related: What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Beans Daily ... or Every Other Day 

Then on another burner, I sauté some kale with olive oil and Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning in a frying pan. We really like kale, so I’ll usually sauté two pans worth so there’s enough to enjoy with any leftovers.  

To serve, I grab my favorite handmade ceramic pasta bowls and build the dish. I spoon some rice into each bowl, then top it with the warmed black beans and onions. The sauteéd kale and avocado slices are placed around the beans and rice, and I finish with a sprinkle of raw chopped onion and a squeeze of lime juice. And that’s it!

It’s a simple, tasty, budget-friendly dish. There are so many swaps you can make to suit your preferences or use up whatever is in your pantry and fridge. You can swap the white rice with brown rice or a wild rice mix, change the type of beans, veggies and seasonings, or top it with your favorite hot sauce. I like to throw an over-easy egg on top of leftovers the next day. I love that this whole dish comes together in about 45 minutes (less if you use leftover or precooked rice), and the main ingredients are pantry staples we almost always have on hand.  

As far as nutrition goes, this black bean and rice bowl is packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients like avocado and kale. The black beans offer filling fiber, and if you substitute the white rice with brown rice, you can boost the fiber even more. This meal is also good for your gut, thanks to the resistant starch in black beans and prebiotics in onions. As a whole, it’s a well-rounded dish with carbs, healthy fat and protein.

Having go-to meals like this rice and beans bowl takes the pressure off of dinner planning—especially when you keep your kitchen stocked with most (if not all) of the ingredients you need. If you’re planning on making this dish at home, I’d recommend shopping around for an avocado a few days beforehand or using one of these ripening techniques to ensure you have a perfectly ripe avocado by dinnertime. Having a healthy dinner doesn’t require a complicated recipe or hours in the kitchen; it can be as simple as putting your favorite nutritious ingredients into a bowl and digging in. I hope this “recipe” inspires you to build your own quick, healthy and delicious dinners at home.