Tropical Black Beans

I waited too long to start dinner, so I decided to make something really quick and easy. This fits the bill!

I served it over pressure cooker polenta. If you have a pressure cooker, start it before you even cut a vegetable. Just add 4 cups water or broth (broth is more flavorful, but water keeps it totally neutral if you want to make a big batch for other uses) to 1 cup dry polenta, stir, and cook for 9 minutes on high pressure. Let the pressure release naturally while you're cooking the rest of the meal.

Ingredients:

1 medium red bell pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 TBS olive oil

1 cup mango chunks (I used frozen, but fresh would be wonderful)

1 cup pineapple tidbits (I used frozen, but canned or fresh would work well)

1 can (~16 oz) of black beans, drained

2 teaspoons minced ginger

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp lime zest

1 pinch saffron

1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional - to taste)

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 cup orange juice

Pan fry the pepper and onion in the olive oil until softened. Add in the mango and pineapple and cook for a few minutes over medium-high heat. Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced and the flavors start to come together (about 10 minutes). Serve on polenta, rice, or quinoa and dinner is done!  

I sprinkled extra lime zest and crushed pepper on top and added a generous bit of hot sauce (Pukka scotch bonnet sauce is REALLY nice here if you like spicy stuff). 

Nutritional Information for 1/4 of the recipe of tropical beans:

186 calories

36 g carbs

7 g protein

4.1 g fat

7.4 g fiber

13 g sugar

9% Vitamin A

168% Vitamin C

5% Calcium

14% Iron

1/4 of the polenta adds:

130 calories

 27 g carbs

 3 g protein

 0 g fat

 2 g fiber

7% Iron