Beans and Rice

KeithAM

KeithAM

Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Messages
3,154
Trying to find more ways to save money, I suggested to my wife that we eat beans and rice for a few meals a each week. I'm fine with beans and rice plain, or with a little salsa. My wife wants better recipes than that.

So, anyone have good recipes for beans and rice? :confused:
 
Plain beans and rice is a bit bland and boring .You can add many things.Saute some onions, also add tomato, peppers and other things to your taste . For a colorful dish add different color peppers .
 
I was in Puerto Rico last weekend and "rice and beans" is a staple dish there, very tasty too. Do a search for some of their recipes, here's a couple.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Authentic-Puerto-Rican-Rice-and-Beans-96710

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,puerto_rican_rice_beans,FF.html

http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/puertorico.html

You can add some spices to the rice which gives it good taste and if you cook the beans with some bacon, perhaps some onions and garlic it should give you a lot of bang for the buck. Lots of info in the links above. Enjoy.
 
Back in the 70's, this was called a "macrobiotics" diet. My wife and I did that for a few months until it really got boring. But it's good :thumbup: Yup, you need a lot of salsa or other Mexican flavorings. Consider refried beans (refritos) as an alternative (and learn to refry them in bacon grease). Besides Goya, I will recommend one really good brand of canned beans called "Sylvia's", named after a restaurant in Harlem, they are just plain good straight out of the can, hot or cold. Of course you can boil your own dried beans, much cheaper, but they take some work with seasonings. I love rice and beans as a side dish, but I want some meat with it :thumbup:
 
Soak black beans over nite.
Cook as per the instructions on the package.
In a separate pot cook the rice.
But first, slice 2 chorizos thin and sautee them in the bottom of the pot.
Add the rice and twice as much water as rice.
Bring to a boil.
Once it boils cover tightly and set the heat on the lowest your stove goes.
Set the timer for 20 minutes.
Don't touch it till its done.
Start the rice when you've got a half hour to go on the beans...
Now in a frying pan, sautee an onion, a bell pepper and... oh... 6 or so cloves of garlic.
As they sautee sprinkle with a little salt, and about a tablespoon of cumin and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme.
When the onions are just past clear but not carmelized, remove a ladle or 2 of beans and put them in the frying pan. Mash them with a potato masher and put everything back into the bean pot.
Wait for the rice to beep and you're good to go.

The above works for red beans too.
I just like black beans mo'better :D

One more thought...
A can of chicken stock instead of water can go a long way ;)
 
Regarding rice courtesy of Ethan Becker and the Joy of cooking :)

Spanish Rice
1 Chopped onion and 1-2 cloves garlic in an oven safe pan
sautee' until golden
add rice and stir until coated
add 1 can tomato puree, water and 1-2 cubes dissolved chicken bullion
including 1/4-1/2 tsp paprika and a little pepper.
bring to a boil, stir once cover and put in a preheated 350 degree oven
for 30-35 minutes.

For the above I use 2 cups rice and 4 cups water.

Tasty and a good base for other things. Seems to taste better the next day as well. The original recipe calls for bacon to go in w/the onions and garlic.

Enjoy,

J.
 
Mmm, black beans!

How about adding a clove of garlic, a minced onion, and some cumin?

Also, this seems apropos:

[youtube]heKYNWFBkW8[/youtube]
 
Get a vegan cookbook. I am serious. My sisters are both vegan and can do amazing things with beans & rice. We had some black beans & rice with carrots, celery & onion. It was delicious!!
 
Research Indian cuisines such as those near Goa.

They, also, do amazing things with vegetables. Particularly if you don't mind a bit of yogurt here and there.
 
C.S. Graves said:
Mmm, black beans!

How about adding a clove of garlic, a minced onion, and some cumin?
Click to expand...

Oh man, I put too much garlic in beans once and it was bad. Onions and cumin, okay, add some chili powder, touch of oregano, diced tomatoes.

I generally consider vegans to be a PITA (my daughter recently decided she's a vegan) they're always whining about their choice, as if the rest of the world has to respond to it. Vegans don't live longer, they just look older; lack of protein.

However, I have spent one weekend at a vegan household and ate nothing but wonderful meals (and no tofu) and never thought about meat.

Nice try, but they can't trick me :D
 
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Red beans and rice are a Cajun staple. Every Wednesday is red beans and rice day at the Dairy Queens in Louisiana. Any Cajun cookbook will have recipies(sp?).
 
I love rice. There are a lot of great ways to enjoy it. Fried rice with stir fry veggies is my favorite. I could eat fried rice 4 or 5 times a week...
Gotta have some meat in there somewhere though
 
Toss a bunch of chicken parts in a pot of water. I like salt and pepper in there. Chicken can be a couple of thighs or a bunch of drumsticks.

When it's chicken soup, take out the chicken and use 2 cups of soup for each cup of rice (instead of water). Cook the rice.

Strip the chicken of skin and bones and cut it up in little pieces. Put garlic, onion, and celery minced up in olive oil and heat them up good. Add the chicken.

Mix this in with some of the rice when it's done. Save the rest of the rice for another meal, maybe tossed into a bowl of what's left of the chicken soup.
 
2 packages of the Mahatma saffron rice in the long slender envelopes
2 cans beans (1 light & 1 dark Kidney beans)
2 or 4 Goya Chorizos (come in packs of 2) or 2 nice Andouille sausages (or the portugese sausages that I forgot the name of just now- Linguisa maybe? Thank you Mr. Vodka...
1 medium or large onion, diced or rough chopped
2 to 100,000 cloves of garlic- to taste. Don't use the crap from a jar.
1 or 2 bay leaves
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika or 1 or 2 whole dried & reconstituted smoked ancho chilies.
Chopped Cilantro (for final garnish)

Use a large saucepan or deep skillet w/ a lid. Chop sausages into bite-sized or smaller pieces. There are some chorizos and other sausages like the Italian hot & sweet that have casings and don't chop well- remove the casings & saute w/ 1/2 of the chopped onion & a portion of the desired amout of crushed/chopped garlic until onion is glassy. Add dry rice packets & stir until rice is coated & shiny.
Add water as required by package instructions on rice. Add about 3 or 4 extra tablespoons of water, cover & bring to boil. Drain & rinse beans and add when rice is boiling. Add Bay leaf, paprika (or chilies) and remainder of chopped/crushed garlic.
Cover & reduce heat. Let pot boil on low heat & stir occasionally to prevent sticking. When 3/4 of the water is absorbed, add remaining onion.
When water is absorbed, it's ready. Remove bay leaves- their job is done. Top w/ chopped cilantro and hot sauce if desired. Or you can stir in shredded cheese. Cheese & cilantro together doesn't work so well IMHO.
 
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Coldwood said:
I generally consider vegans to be a PITA (my daughter recently decided she's a vegan) they're always whining about their choice, as if the rest of the world has to respond to it.
Click to expand...

There's an easy solution to the whining about their choice: doing their own cooking! :D:thumbup:

But yes, you can sometimes make tasty dishes without meat and dairy... Lord knows, I can't often do it without dairy! :(
 
i lived on a bowl of rice for lunch for three years. i can honestly say it is not that bad.
first and foremost buy the best organic short grain brown rice you can find or the best rice you can
Jasmine,Basmati, go to the Asain market and ask somebody

cook enough rice to last a few days,put it in the frige.let cool over night
this is your stirfry rice.

use olive oil,and seasoning you like and Liquid Amino from Braggs
or the best low salt soy sauce you can find, not KIKO ,it is too salty

add some oil into a hot skillet,garlic or onions ;sweat them, add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon or chopsticks. cook for five minutes or until rice is beginning to shine
beans are an art in themselves.
hope this helps


actually chopsticks are the only civilized tools for eating,
rice included.

. practice stir frying the rice and adding the right amount of seasoning. after awhile you'll figure it out. a scrambled egg is good in the rice,also vegetables from a garden. YOU DO HAVE A GARDEN!!!!!!!

luck and good appetite

buzz
 
good whole grain brown rice and small red beans is a decent diet. if you can find some Japanese Green tea you have the beginnings of the macrobiotic diet
mentioned in an above post.

no sugar, no starchy crap like potatoes or white bread, no fast food junk.

look up George Ohsawa on the web.

this isn't fad diet food. it is more like medicine for health

if you have intestinal problems the beans can give you trouble.

all good
buzz
 
Damn, there's been some good reading here. Thanks all for making me hungry and making me laugh. Coolin' down now time to go work in the garden. Oh yeah, tortillas are also good for rolling up what's left of the beans and rice if the wife makes you take your lunch. I like chopped onions (always ready in the fridge) and fresh spinach rolled up with 'em, a shot of Sriracha sauce and you're good to go.
 
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