Cheesy Black Bean and Sweet Pepper Rice Skillet

Heat the vegetable oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and sliced sweet peppers and cook, stirring now and then, for 7 minutes, until the onion is soft and the peppers are blistered in spots.

Tip: Let the peppers sit undisturbed for a minute at a time so they char a little instead of steaming.

Stir in the garlic, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant and the paste darkens to brick red.

Add the rice and stir for 1 minute to coat every grain in the spices. Pour in the water with the salt and bring to a boil over high heat.

Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 18 minutes, until the rice is nearly tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

Tip: Keep the lid on the whole time; lifting it lets the steam out and leaves the rice chalky.

While the rice simmers, drain and rinse the black beans in a colander, and stir the sour cream with the lime juice and a pinch of salt in a small bowl.

Scatter the black beans and frozen corn over the rice, gently fold them in, cover and cook on low for 5 minutes, until the beans are hot and the rice is tender with no liquid left in the pan.

Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the top, take the skillet off the heat, cover and let stand for 4 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted.

Top the skillet with spoonfuls of the lime sour cream and the sliced green onions, and serve straight from the pan with lime wedges on the side.