The black beans, rice, and avocado are three ingredients I love as much as my dad did, but if I had to pick *the* one ingredient that made this so good, it would be the finely-chopped Poblano pepper in the salsa.
Slow Cooker Vegan Brown Rice Mexican Bowl with Black Beans, Bell Peppers, and Poblano-Avocado Salsa
Slow Cooker Ingredients
- 1 cup long-grain brown rice
- 2 cups low sodium vegetable stock
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 red bell pepper (chopped small)
- 1 green bell pepper (chopped small)
- 1 can (4 oz. diced green chiles plus juice (Anaheim chiles, not jalapenos)- optional)
- 2 cans (15 oz. black beans, rinsed well and drained)
- salt to taste
Salsa Ingredients
- 1/2 cup diced tomato
- 1 large Poblano pepper (very finely diced)
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 large avocado cut into cubes about 1 inch
- 1 T + 2 T fresh lime juice (I used my fresh-frozen lime juice)
- 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin (or more, to taste)
- salt to taste
- Combine the rice, vegetable stock, and finely chopped onion in the slow cooker and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours, or until rice is just starting to get tender. While rice cooks, chop the red and green bell pepper, and open the diced green chiles. Drain the black beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears; then let beans drain well.
- After 1 1/2 hours, add the chopped red bell pepper, chopped green bell pepper, diced green chiles with juice, and drained black beans to the slow cooker and gently combine with the rice. Add salt to taste and then cook on high for about 30 minutes more.
- While the rice mixture finishes cooking, chop the tomato, cilantro, and Poblano pepper and thinly slice the green onion. Cut the avocado into cubes about 1 inch across and toss in a bowl with 1 T of lime juice. (Use a bowl that will hold all the salsa ingredients. Add the chopped tomato, chopped cilantro, finely chopped Poblano, sliced green onion, other 2 T lime juice, 2 T olive oil, ground cumin, and salt to taste, and gently combine.
- The slow cooker mixture is ready when the rice is tender (and preferably the peppers are barely cooked, with still quite a bit of crunch.) Serve hot or warm, with a generous scoop of the Poblano-Avocado Salsa on top. You could add other toppings such as desired.
After the initial 1 1/2 hour cooking time for the brown rice check the tenderness to make sure the rice is starting to get tender. The rice should finish cooking with the last half hour of cooking.
Adapted from Kaylyns Kitchen