Black Bean Veggie Casserole and Baked Stuffed Pears

3 c. uncooked brown rice
3 t. butter
10 c. water

3 15 oz. cans black beans, undrained
28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 onions
4 zucchini
3 t ground cumin
8 t salt (If I make it again, I'll cut back on the salt. To me, it was too salty.)
8 T sour cream
1 c. Monterrey jack cheese

Cook rice with butter. I did this step during nap time. I left the rice, covered, on the stove on the lowest heat setting for 45 minutes.

I was going to use dried beans instead of canned, but when I went to put the beans in the slow cooker, I noticed that the Goya package had a disclaimer that the beans may contain traces of wheat. I substituted canned beans at the last minute.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Chop the vegetables, and mix all the ingredients except the cheese together. Pour into a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.

Because this was a simple recipe, I also made dessert. This recipe comes from the Ayurvedic cookbook, Heaven's Banquet, which is the book that I turn to when I need ideas on how to cook vegetables. I prepared the pears while the casserole was cooking, but if I make this again, I'll reverse the order, cooking the pears first and saving the warming of the casserole until the end.

8 ripe pears, halved and hollowed.
2/3 c. finely chopped dried apricots
1/2 c. orange juice
2/3 c. walnuts (The cookbook calls for pine nuts, but I don't like them.)
butter

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a baking dish.

Puree the apricots and half the orange juice in a blender. If you are using unsulphered apricots, which I did, you are supposed to simmer them for 5 minutes in the orange juice before blending, but I neglected this step. Mix in the nuts.

Put a scoop of the fruit and nut mixture in the hollow of each pear. Pour the rest of the orange juice on top. Dot with butter. Bake for 1 hour.