Dinner Tonight: West Indian Rice and Beans
Staples like beans and rice are staples for a reason. Whether Cajun-style red beans and rice, arroz con frijoles negro from Mexico, or gallo pinto from Central America, sometimes two foods just go together. Beans and rice as a dish are not only delicious and nutritious but also economical. I've gotten into the habit now of cooking a big pot of beans every weekend, which make their way into breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week, most often paired with rice.
So I was quite excited to stumble on this new-to-me variation of the pair, hailing from Caribbean/West Indian cuisine. Rather than cooked separately, as I usually go about it, the rice and beans simmer together along with coconut milk and spices. The creaminess of the coconut milk gives the dish a thick, risotto-like consistency, and it's also a big help if you're starting from canned beans, since it makes up for the lack of bean cooking liquor to keep everything saucy.
West Indian Rice and Beans
- serves 4 -
Adapted from Epicurious.
Ingredients
2 cups vegetable broth
1 can (15-ounce) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 cup medium-grain white rice
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
Procedure
1. In a medium or large saucepan, combine everything but the rice and green onion and bring to a boil. Stir on rice, reduce heat to a gentle simmer, and cook until the rice is almost tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
2. Stir in most of the green onions, reserving some for garnish. Continue cooking until the rice is completely tender. Serve with remaining green onions as garnish.
About the author: Blake Royer founded The Paupered Chef with Nick Kindelsperger, where he writes about food and occasional travels. He is currently living in Tartu, Estonia, for the year.
View other entries from Dinner Tonight.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
23 Comments:
2 cups of vegetable broth?
mcswain27 at 4:34PM on 03/31/09
Hmm, what say ye about making this with brown rice? I've never substituted, since brown rice seems so finicky, but I'd like to...
CupcakeMe at 4:42PM on 03/31/09
...or some jerk tofu!
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=155
mcswain27 at 4:43PM on 03/31/09
Brown rice should work fine as long as you increase the liquid by 1/4 to 1/2 cup, and increase the original cooking time by say 20 minutes.
sjwoodin at 4:56PM on 03/31/09
I checked the original recipe at epicurious and it says 2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth.
Knitter at 4:57PM on 03/31/09
Wow that looks so good, i can not wait to try that recipe and add it to my recipes, thanks so much
Cheryl Keller Recipes
artbycc at 6:12PM on 03/31/09
2 cups veggie broth plus the 1 cup of coconut milk. The amount of liquid looks fine to me, but I like my rice firm. The beans are canned - they aren't going to absorb that much more liquid. Ultimately, your mileage will vary based on how old your rice is.
For brown rice, increase your cook time to between 45-50 minutes and let it sit for 10 minutes with the heat off. I don't think I'd actually add any more liquid than what is called for.
Amandarama at 10:53PM on 03/31/09
My Jamaican (right from Kingston) mother NEVER served wet/soupy rice like this, didn't use veg stock, and didn't use allspice, AKA pimento (not the same as pimento peppers). I mean no disrespect, but what Caribbean provided this recipe and said it was authentic? The only thing "right" here is listing rice first, as in rice & peas (they don't call them beans, another non-Caribbean thing) because you have more rice than peas.
foodplease at 9:39AM on 04/01/09
Actually, this looks like a Wednesday meal we used to have called Stew Peas & Rice, which was wetter. It just didn't have coconut milk, which would make it Rice & Peas, and the rice wasn't cooked with the peas.
Sorry, I'm really not a snob - I'm just fussy about Jamaican food, and haven't had any as good as Mom's!
foodplease at 10:51AM on 04/01/09
The Guyanese and Trini's cook the rice and peas together, but this does look a bit gloopy. It would also take a hell of a lot more seasoning, fresh green herbs and real peppers...not jalapenos.
But it's not a bad start. I'm not terribly interested in a discussion of what is 'authentic' because it serves to reinforce silly notions about all the many countries of the Caribbean being completely alike. Jamaicans love allspice, Trini's chadon beni, or cilantro, and most Guyanese use neither in favour of thyme or what might be called portuguese oregano.
This looks like a great mid week meal with the canned bean elements. My mother would kill me for not using a pressure cooker or an all day simmer on dried beans, but I can't be bothered and often use tinned black eyed peas.
BananaMonkey at 12:16PM on 04/01/09
Some pickled pigs tails sliced thing or salted beef would also 'wuk down' in this.
BananaMonkey at 12:17PM on 04/01/09
uh, sliced 'thin' not 'thing'
BananaMonkey at 12:18PM on 04/01/09
On a recent visit to Costa Rica, my daughter-in-law made the most incredible beans in the crockpot overnight. She credits the recipe to the maid, who observed her trying the pressure cooker method. She placed the dried beans and LOTS of water and spices in the pot at bedtime and by noon the next day we had the best beans ever.
AbuelaLinda at 2:31PM on 04/01/09
whoa - very controversial! I will try though since it looks good to me!
Gizmosma at 2:56PM on 04/01/09
I am from the Caribbean and I can tell you our Rice and Peas DO NOT LOOK LIKE THAT, depending on our Country you use either Pigeon Peas, Red Beans or Black-eyes Peas and we ALWAYS use dried peas that has been soaked.We don't use the vegetable stock as the recipe says but the water the peas or beans has been pressured in (pressured to get the peas soft). In the finish product the rice is cooked but still firm and the flavors of all the ingredients have married.
trinimom at 9:32PM on 04/01/09
Well, I tried this the other night. Once it was done cooking according to the directions I put the lid on and let the whole thing sit for about 15 minutes while I finished the rest of the meal. The result was a thick rice and beans- not the soupy one shown above in the photo. Personally, I didn't care for it, but I didn't have real high hopes since I don't care for coconut milk in savory applications. However, it gets high marks for ease, and I think I'll make a variation of it again, omitting the coconut milk.
ErikaWaz at 8:15PM on 04/04/09
Ooh...I didn't realize there were other Trinis here!! :)
As was previously mentioned, different Caribbean islands have variations on the same recipe...this one being no different...this take on R&P does look a bit soupier than what I'm used to, but yummy nontheless.
I think it's more than ok to use canned peas or beans, which Trinis and other Caribbean nationalities use in the interest of time.
annie_eye at 11:43AM on 04/05/09
This is making me hungry for rice and peas, which I haven't had in a while. But I can't keep staring at that picture - it is like a car wreck - just looks so wrong. Place me in the camp with those saying it shouldn't be soupy at all. All my family members who made it made a dry version, no soup or "risotto-like consistency" at all.
Also - use one scotch bonnet pepper (or habanero if scotch bonnet isn't available where you live) with a small hole poked in it instead of the chopped jalapeno. Remove the pepper prior to serving, lest your friends think it is okay to just eat the thing whole!
I'm also a fan of lots of thyme - I put a few stems of fresh thyme in mine and let the leaves cook off/down.
fatcat at 10:51AM on 04/06/09
Looks good. But my Cuban grandmama never made rice and beans without a piece of meat in 'em. Usually pork or chicken.
BITTER at 3:06PM on 04/06/09
Americans love extra sauce!! as a Jamaican I always go into a restuarant where Yankees are asking for extra gravy. Rice and Peas is suppose to be DRY. Honestly this is by far not not from the Caribbean. Also the above looks like Red Stew Peas and Rice..All it is missing is the spinners, some salt pork or beef.
lachefs at 9:19AM on 04/07/09
we made this over the weekend but added some chicken and chalula. it was like a nice bean risotto. really good. I see lots of potential for improvisation here.
eldiablito at 12:09PM on 04/07/09
In the Trinidad when you add meat to it, be it chicken,pork,beef,pig-tail, salt-beef or smoked bones it becomes what some Caribbean people call Pelau
trinimom at 9:01PM on 04/15/09
I'm not terribly concerned with the authenticity of this dish. I made it and it was yummy. My kids loved it as well so I was extra happy. Makes an easy and cheap week night dinner. I didn't have green onions so I subbed cilantro and it worked perfectly. I like the allspice in it.
I'm making it again tonight with pork tenderloin on the side.
jenh718 at 1:19PM on 05/20/09