Travelling Salesman

There's a great dish at a local vegan restaurant (The Mondragon) called a "starving courier". Today, for dinner, I wanted to have something different and thought I'd give it a try. I mixed what I understand about starving couriers with a recipe I found online for Spanish Rice Bean Dip. And it turned out good!

I made this without measuring anything, so the measurements are guesses. Use your best judgement :)

• 1 medium onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 can black beans
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried jalapeño peppers
• salt and pepper

• 2 cups cooked rice (jasmine, brown, whatever)
• 1 cup salsa (I like Safeway's hot organic, but it's all good)

• Nutritional yeast (optional; gives it a cheesy taste)
• Toppings (optional; I used tomato and green onion)
• Vegan sour cream (optional)
• Whole grain tortilla chips (or whatever)

Preheat oven to 350F

Sauté the onion and garlic in water for a few minutes, till they're soft (cover and keep an eye on it, since water evaporates -- it's not like cooking in oil). Rinse the black beans under warm water. Add beans, garlic, cumin, the vinegars, dried peppers, salt, and pepper. Mix well, cook until everything is soft and it isn't too dry (5-10 minutes -- add more vinegar or water if you need to). Optionally puree with a hand blender (I prefer to).

Lightly grease a 7"x7" pan (or something similar). Put rice on bottom, push down. Cover with salsa. Cover with black bean paste. Sprinkle on nutritional yeast and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, put toppings on (tomato, green onions, whatever). Cut into 4 slices, put on plate, garnish with sour cream and tortilla chips.