Instant Pot Lime Brown Rice & Beans + Air Fryer Vegetable Fajitas

It’s not often that the quickest and easiest option is also the tastiest, but this recent meal was a revelation.

Even though I am off work right now, our evenings can get a little rushed so I’m still interested in healthy meals that are quick to put together and still delicious. We recently enjoyed one that used all small appliances and is definitely worth sharing.

First I got the brown rice going.

Lime Brown Rice and Beans

Ingredients

• A “drizzle” of avocado oil (about 2 T- any cooking oil will do)
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 T minced garlic
• 2 C long-grain brown rice
• 2 1/4 C chicken broth (I used water with 2 t vegetable broth powder)
• 2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed (I cook dry beans in my pressure cooker and freeze them in 3-cup portions in reused yogurt containers)
• Zest and juice of 2 limes
• 1 t salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oil using the saute function on the Instant Pot.
2. Cook garlic and onion until fragrant and the onion is translucent, about three minutes.
3. Add the rice and cook until it smells rich and nutty, about five minutes more.
4. Add remaining ingredients. Lock lid in place. Cook for porridge setting or 20 minutes.
5. Release pressure manually when the time is up.

As the rice came up to pressure I worked on the fajitas.

Air Fryer Vegetable Fajitas

Ingredients

• 2 large red onions, sliced
• 3 bell peppers, sliced
• 1 t each: Cumin, paprika, chili powder
• 1 T avocado oil (any cooking oil will do)

Instructions

1. Toss all ingredients in the air fryer basket.
2. Cook for 15 minutes at 400 F, tossing once.

I got the rice started, prepped the fajitas, and gave Spencer the air fryer cooking instructions. By the time I got back from my run dinner was ready. I ate mine in a bowl- Spencer had his with tortillas.

We loved the flavor of the rice and beans and the texture of the fajitas was crisp and charred, more like what we order in a restaurant. When I make fajitas stove top they tend to get a little soggy.

I hope you enjoy this easy-to-prep meal! We will always make our fajitas this way in the future.