Red Beans and Rice... Guilt-Free!

I really need to start taking pictures before I devour the meals I make!  Today I decided to be creative and try for my own brand of red beans and rice.  What I ended up with was delicious, easy, cheap, and HEALTHY!  This recipe also allows for dozens of variations, depending on what you have on hand.  All the ingredients were bought at Aldi (and therefore cheap... like I think this dinner cost about $6 total).  This meal would feed 3-4 people.

Whole grain rice (2 cups)
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles
1 can red kidney beans in chili sauce (2 cans may be preferred for bulk)
1/2 can corn
corn tortillas
feta or low-fat jack cheese

Set oven to 350.  Cut tortillas into quarters and place in a single layer on cookie sheets.  Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.  Those will go in for about 20 minutes, but keep an eye on them.  When they've browned around the edges and look crisp, remove them from the oven.  Now you have homemade tortilla chips!

Make rice with about a 1/2 cup water and then use the liquid from the can of tomatoes and chiles for the rest of the water.  Boil water, then add rice and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.  Before you cover it, however, add tomatoes and chiles and corn... then cover.

Heat beans in a small saucepan.  When rice is done, add beans, stirring together.  Serve with a bit of feta on top or low-fat jack cheese.

You've now got a bulky meal full of fiber (very filling and very healthy) and quite delicious!  Serve with the tortilla chips for a fantastic crunch!  You can add other veggies (peppers, perhaps) and meat, if you wish (Cajun seasoned sausage would be delicious).  I couldn't believe how easy, delicious, cheap, and HEALTHY this dish ended up!  Enjoy!