I’m trying to cut our grocery bill down a bit, and eat healthier as well, and I’ve been craving good rice and beans recipes. I’m pretty much open to any kind of rice and bean recipes - any kind of spices - etc. They’ve never been a staple in my diet, but I’d like to make them so.
Hoppin’ John is made with blackeyed peas and rice.
I can’t find the particular recipe I found on the dope, though. There’s one on the bback of the can of blackeyed peas.
I like to make rice and beans just plain, absolutely no seasonings. I make a big mess of 'em, and reheat them for lunch. Once it’s reheated, I drizzle it with some extra virgin olive oil and Tabasco Sauce, or sesame oil and a bit of soy sauce, or walnut oil and basalmic vinegar . . . but my favorite is pumpkin seed oil and tamari sauce. Mmmm. The oils can be a bit expensive, but a teeny bit goes a long way, and they’re supposedly good for the heart ‘n’ all.
Fry up some garlic and onions in olive oil at the bottom of a big pot.
Put in a bunch of black beans and water. Throw in some bay leaves, some stock, a can of tomato sauce, or anything else good you have laying around.
About a half hour before the beans are done, fry up some more garlic and onions. Add chunks of vegetables- carrots, squash, peppers, whatever. Throw those in the pot. Season heavily with cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper.
Stew for as long as you can stand it.
When it’s about done, take a blender-ful of the beans and puree them. Then add a glug of sherry (or wine or beer or whatever), a couple cups of fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a little bit of hot sauce. Let it cook maybe ten more minutes. Serve with white rice and shredded collard greens fried in olive oil with garlic.
Yum!
On weekdays, it’s pinto beans, can of tomato sauce, spices, garlic’n’onions and hot sauce. Throw it all in a pot at five and it’s ready to eat by dinner time.
That recipe looks pretty good. (There are lots of variations. you just have to try several).
I did think there were a lot of different kinds of meat in that recipe. A hamhock and sausage is usually enough. That recipe seemed to talk about every possible kind of sausage at once. That would be overkill-and defeats the purpose of red beans and rice-cheap.
Oh, don’t forget to mash a couple of tablespoons of beans back into the juice a few minutes before the simmering is finished. Thickens the juice.