Mexican Rice Bowl

After getting back from vacation and then moving the fiance into his new place for grad school I had a hankering for Mexican, even though we had made tacos for 30 people the previous week.  Maybe it was because I was returning with a large can of taco seasoning?  Who knows.   However, I hate buying tortillas because I never end up using them all up, then they go moldy in the back of the fridge after using 2 of the 8.  What a waste.  There was an article about rice bowls (or grain bowls) as a great lunchtime meal in an old edition of Bon Appetite, so I decided to take that approach.

I made 1 cup of rice, and then was able to divide that into 5 of my pyrex bowls as the base.  I cooked about a pound of ground beef (97% lean) and then used the left-over taco seasoning for that and layered it on top of the rice.  Then made a pot of black beans (2 cans of black beans, 1 corn on the cob cut off, 1 can diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, cilantro, lime juice) for the next layer, and then topped it with diced fresh tomatoes, avocado, salsa and cilantro.  Thus, in about 40 minutes I had 5 meals for the week.

(If you're not dairy free, you could easily add cheese and sour cream on top)

I think grain bowls are the way to go for weekly lunches as they're filling and you can put some protein on them (even cook an egg on them in the microwave at work), then add salad bits, a sauce (like salsa, salad dressing or any other sauce) and you've got a complete meal.

You could go bbq...wild rice + pulled pork + slaw veggies + bbq sauce
You could go asian...jasmine rice + teriyaki chicken + frozen asian veg (reheated) + dash of soy sauce
Breakfast?  Hash browns + sausage + salad greens + poached egg (yes, you can poach an egg in the microwave! )

Possibilities are endless!