Meatless meal is good for your body and budget

With the holiday credit card bills still piling in, we're looking for ways to cut corners anywhere we can. Not only is a meatless dinner of beans good for the body, it's good for your financial well-being.

We've been eating "bean dinners" twice a week for a while now, and frankly, it was starting to get bland. So, we took to the test kitchen to spice things up. Today's Indonesian Curried Bean Stew offers an exotic blend of flavors — including curry, garlic and ginger to name a few.

Served over a bed of quick-cooking brown rice, this stew will have you sitting down to a taste-tingling dinner in just 15 minutes flat. It may be beans, but it's definitely not boring.

Menu suggestion: Indonesian Curried Bean Stew

Tossed salad

Pineapple spears

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INDONESIAN CURRIED BEAN STEW

Start to finish: 15 minutes

Cook's note: Bottled fresh ginger is a relatively new ingredient that is a perfect replacement for the time-consuming fresh ginger. Called crushed, ground, minced or chopped, depending on the brand, bottled fresh ginger is available in the produce section of larger supermarkets. One teaspoon of finely minced fresh ginger can be substituted.

2 cups quick-cooking (10-minute) brown rice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion (for about 1 cup chopped)

1 large bell pepper (for about 1 1/2 cups chopped)

2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic

1 (15-ounce) can light red kidney beans

1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes

1 (15-ounce) can black beans

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

3 tablespoons peanut butter

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon bottled fresh ginger, see Cook's note

1/4 cup of chopped, fresh cilantro leaves, optional

1. Cook the rice according to the package directions.