Recipe Time - Gallo Pinto

This is a great pantry friendly, leftover using dish. You can put practically anything you like in Gallo Pinto and it will taste good, and you'll notice that there are a lot of add-in options. It's also the ultimate in budget food, if you buy your rice and beans in bulk. I will hereby swear that my 3 cup rice cooker is the best purchase I've ever made, along with the bulk Basmati rice I buy at our food co-op. It doesn't matter if you only have a dollar to your name, you simply cannot feel sorry for yourself when feasting on a bowl of Gallo Pinto.


Gallo Pinto

2 tablespoons canola, vegetable or olive oil
1 tablespoon butter (optional, but it adds a nice richness if you have it on hand)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 of a red bell pepper, finely diced (optional)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups cooked white (or Basmati!) rice
2 cups cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 -3 tablespoons vegetarian worcestershire sauce (regular can be used as well)
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
fresh cilantro (optional)
sliced green onion (optional)
sour cream (optional)

1 Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2 Add onion and sauté until it just begins to soften and turns color.
3 Add garlic and bell pepper (if using) and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until onion is golden.
4 Add spices and Worcestershire, and stir into onion mixture.
5 Next, add the beans and then the rice.
6 Combine the rice and beans evenly and cook until mixture is heated through.
7 Add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.
8 Garnish with some chopped cilantro or green onions if you prefer, or sour cream.

My note - as much as I love sour cream, I did not add any to my dish of Gallo Pinto. It was fantastic without it. If you are a meat eater, you can add leftover chicken, beef, pork, etc to your Gallo Pinto. If you're not a meat eater, leave it as/is, add some seitan, some firm pan fried tofu, or whatever you fancy. The possibilities are endless!

Say WHAT?!

The lovely Grey recently had an Etsy/Heartsy experience that is still leaving me baffled.. She was told in a convo by a seller that she would have to "wait for her order until after she'd [the seller] completed her paying customer’s first."

Say what? (imagine me saying that in the Tenth Doctor's "Don't mess with me" voice - though I could never hope to sound anything like David Tennant.)

I can't imagine ever treating a visitor to my shop that way. Note I didn't say "customer", because that implies that I'll only be nice if I think you're going to buy something, which is not true. Every person who visits the Whimsy Beading shop is worthy of my full attention, prompt answers to questions and the best customer service I can possibly give. It's how I would want to be treated, and it's how I do business. I don't always uphold my end of things to my own standards, but I do my best, every time. Sometimes, my best is simply keeping my mouth shut when someone makes a nasty comment about my work, but that's another story for another day. Believe me, it's not easy for me to keep my mouth shut at the best of times!

The only defense I can give the seller who was so rude to Grey is that she was simply overwhelmed at the prospect of the Heartsy deal's response, and said something in the heat of the moment that she wishes she could take back. I really hope that's what it is. Because if you're going to treat your shop's visitors and potential customers like crap, then you're really in the wrong business.

Lucky 7

We have 7 orders to go before we hit 500 sales in the Whimsy Beading Etsy Shop The next 7 orders save 30% using coupon code LUCKY7.