Rice is Nice
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Food on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 10:42 PM
When I mentioned “beans and rice for Lent” in my post yesterday, I was using it figuratively to refer to penitential eating in general.
But then reader Ashley mentioned in the comments that her family actually eats beans and rice on all forty days of Lent, and she piqued my interest.
One of our family Lenten resolutions this year is to squeeze our grocery budget as tightly as we can, and give the extra money to Food for the Poor. In order to do this we must eat more simply. I was thinking lots of pasta, and casseroles made with tuna or hamburger, but the idea of eating more beans and rice is appealing.
I, however, have little experience with rice, and even less with beans. I have one recipe for a beans-and-rice dish my family enjoys (which I’ll share below) but I could use some help from those of you who know more. What types of beans are good? Is it really as easy as everyone says to cook dried beans? Are there any good cheap rices other than plain white rice?
And if you have tasty recipes, will you share?
Here’s mine. My husband loves this meal.
Monterey Beans and Cheese
slightly adapted from The More With Less Cookbook
serves four to six
1½ cups rice
3 cups water
1 Tbsp bacon fat
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 (15oz) can red or kidney beans
1 tsp or 1 cube beef bouillon
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
salt to taste
1. In medium saucepan, stir together rice and water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt bacon fat in large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft. Add chili powder and black pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Mix in beans, bouillon, and tomato sauce and cook until heated through. Add cheese and stir until it is thoroughly melted and the mixture is smooth. Add salt to taste.
4. Serve hot over rice.
Note: If you don’t need this recipe to be meatless, it is greatly enhanced by the addition of 4-6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled and added back in at the end. If you want it to be vegetarian, substitute oil for the bacon fat and omit the bouillon.
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