Cuban Black Beans and Rice

I got this off of recipezaar.com and used some of the modifications suggested in the comments. It is the quick, lazy way to make this dish and it makes about four to five servings.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (red works, too)
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans (undrained)
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 package Sazon Goya without annato (substitution I used: 2 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. chicken boullion, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar (you can use cooking wine, too)
2 cups cooked white rice
pre-cooked ham steak (optional)

Directions
Heat oil in a medium sauce pan, sauté onion,green pepper, and garlic. Sauté until tender, about 5-10 minutes.

Add in remaining ingredients and stir until boiling, reduce heat and simmer until sauce is reduced, about 20 minutes. You can smash some of the beans to add to the flavor. Serve over white rice.

In order to make this more of a main dish, I diced a dinner ham steak and tossed it in.

Pear Crisp

I got this from Pioneer Woman and it is amazing. The pecans make the dish. I took a picture of it before I put it in the oven, but umm...I took a giant bite out of it before I realized I had forgotten to take an "after the oven" picture. So I used Pioneer Woman's photo as well.

FILLING INGREDIENTS:
4 whole (to 5) Large Pears (Bosc Work Well)
⅔ cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
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Topping Ingredients
1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
⅓ cups Sugar
⅓ cups Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
½ cups Pecans, Very Finely Chopped
1 stick Butter, Melted

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel, core, and dice pears. Place into a bowl and stir together with 2/3 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Stir together. Drizzle melted butter gradually, stirring with a fork as you go until all combined.

Pour pears into a baking dish/pie pan; top with crumb topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Place pan on top rack of oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.