Artisinal Beanplating

April 8, 2015 7:03 AM

I want your recipes for rice and beans, using combinations of beans, rice, and spices that are tasty!

I want to make some batches of rice and beans to store for quick grab-and-go lunches, but I want to be ably to have some variety in my rice and beans. I can get any type of beans, rice, and spices. What are some tasty, unique, or exotic flavors? How about old standbys? I can also use liquids as necessary if your mix calls for it (butter, oils, broths). I have seen this question about rice and beans but I am not so much wanting to add as many vegetables and more interested in flavors (like something Indian tasting?) than complete nutrition.
Thanks!

posted by WeekendJen to Food & Drink (27 answers total)

Are lentils close enough to beans for you? I just learned about mujadara, and it is delicious.
posted by meese at 7:08 AM on April 8, 2015 [12 favorites]

These Slow-Cooker White Beans with Pancetta are the only crock pot recipe that doesn’t taste like sadness to me. It’s super simple but really flavorful. If you make it once, the formula (creamy white bean, some form of smoked bacon, a chunk of parmesan rind, whatever onion/shallot/garlic you have, a can of tomatoes, whatever sturdy herb you have around) becomes second nature.

I pick up a pack of uncured bacon ends (the cheap, irregular trimmings) whenever I’m at Trader Joe’s, chop them into little bits suitable for this recipe, then wrap them in little individual packages in parchment paper and freeze the little packages in a ziploc so they’re ready to go whenever. Everything else is out of the pantry or the back of your fridge.
posted by Juliet Banana at 7:11 AM on April 8, 2015 [5 favorites]

This is my go-to recipe for red beans & rice. One taste and I was back in Puerto Rico. Hope you like it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/magazine/28food-t-001.html?_r=0

for further reading, here is the accompanying NYT article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/magazine/28food-t-000.html?ref=magazine
posted by alchemist at 7:24 AM on April 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

Red beans and rice (lexical recipe here).
posted by plinth at 7:25 AM on April 8, 2015

This chana masala recipe is delicious.
posted by LNM at 7:36 AM on April 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

The Egyptian dish kushari is magical and delicious and adaptable.
posted by maya at 7:36 AM on April 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I love Bryant Terry's Creole Hoppin John. I usually use canned BEP and adjust the recipe accordingly, it's more about the spice mixture . I'm also not a vegetarian so sometimes pork products end up in mine, but it's good either way.
posted by radiomayonnaise at 7:40 AM on April 8, 2015

This is suuuuuuuper simple, but pretty tasty. Make some rice, either white or brown (a couple cups of rice will give you 3-4 lunches), and while the rice is cooking, dump a can of black beans in a pot on the stove on low heat. Add a bunch of garlic and your hot sauce of choice. When the rice is done, dump the warmed up beans, sauce and all, into the rice and stir.

If you're feeling posh, add your protein of choice - I have used chicken, ground beef, chorizo, pork, and a few others, and they're all good.
posted by pdb at 7:42 AM on April 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

I love this barbecued lentils recipe (with more garlic and slightly less vinegar) and while I usually have it on toasted whole wheat bread, I think it would go very nicely with brown rice. This is my favorite black bean recipe (add in so much more garlic and some chipotle in adobo sauce; simmer forever until it's thick) and it goes very nicely with rice of all types. I will also second mujadara in all of its various forms as a delight and wonder for us all. (Also, I use this chana masala mix, following very few of their instructions and using tinned chickpeas and more tomato, but it is very delicious with rice cooked with turmeric and cinnamon, and topped with yogurt and garnished with chaat snack mix.)
posted by jetlagaddict at 7:45 AM on April 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

The jerk marinade in this recipe is delicious converted into rice and beans. Sauté the onion, peppers, and garlic together, then add two cans of black beans (instead of the tofu) and the remaining ingredients (soy sauce, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, ginger, thyme, cloves, cinnamon, and pepper). You can eat as soon as it's hot, or simmer it until the beans start to break down. Serve with plain rice (white or brown), or rice made with some coconut milk. You can swap out jalapeños or even hotter peppers for the green chilies, depending on how spicy you like things.
posted by rebekah at 7:54 AM on April 8, 2015

Arroz con gandules is basic, but one of my favorite rice/beans combinations.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:21 AM on April 8, 2015

Cuban Black Beans and Rice! Tastes twice as good the next day. So much so that we usually make it a day in advance. I like this recipe for it; you can do the rice however you want.

We've never had to throw them out because they're never around long enough to go bad, even with really big batches. Pair with your favorite chicken dish and some pan-fried nearly-black plantains and you're seriously good to go.
posted by jquinby at 8:22 AM on April 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh, yes, Cuban black beans and rice are the best beans and rice, and ('cristianos y moros') very pro religious and racial tolerance I believe.
posted by drlith at 9:11 AM on April 8, 2015

My favorite bean thing is something that's almost a chili using white beans and ground italian sausage (to my pleasant surprise, you can actually buy this stuff, at least at my grocery store, absent links and casings and all that, but in a package looking just like ground beef except it's spiced pork sausage.)

Brown a pound of sausage and about half a chopped up onion in a frying pan, then dump into a crock pot and add two cans of white beans, drained, one can of diced tomatoes, and a teaspoon or so of rosemary. Let it go for a few hours depending on where you set your crock pot. Top with a little parmesan. It's gut simple, really tasty, scores quite reasonably in my calorie and macros tracker, and would be just fine served over rice, though it's hearty enough by itself that I don't bother. Though that would cut it enough to last for several lunches. By itself it makes 4-6 servings depending on your appetite.
posted by Naberius at 9:27 AM on April 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

This lentils in red wine recipe served with rice has become one of my gotos. As an added bonus for your purposes, it's one of those dishes that gets better with a day or two in the fridge.

I'm also fond of black beans cooked with bacon, onion, and truffle oil garnished with fresh lime juice and cilantro. The earthiness of the black beans and truffle flavor contrast nicely with the bright lime and cilantro.
posted by Candleman at 9:31 AM on April 8, 2015

This is delicious, and super-duper easy. A definite go-to in our household! Indian lentils with delicious tempered seasonings
posted by lil' ears at 9:38 AM on April 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Our Version of Cafe Rio’s Black Beans and Cilantro-Lime rice

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1⅓ c. tomato juice
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Cilantro-Lime Rice

1 1/2 c. Uncooked white rice
3 c. Water
1/2 lime - juice
2 tsp chicken bullion granuals
1 small can chopped green chillies
4 tbs chopped cilantro

In size appropriate sauce pan, stir all ingredients together. Cover. On medium-high heat, bring to boil. Turn heat to extra low, and cook for 20 mins, or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Fluff with fork. Enjoy with beans.
posted by Sassyfras at 9:55 AM on April 8, 2015

I'm just finishing a lunch of rice and beans as I write this. My staple lunch, inspired by the other thread you link, is rice and beans with sausage, tomatoes, and spinach. But if you're trying to keep it pretty limited, maybe try:

1 cup (uncooked) white rice
2 cans black beans, mostly-drained
optional: garlic

For me, that's the base of the meal right there; it takes about as long to prepare as the rice takes to cook (so, 15 minutes or so) - mix it all up and you're done. For me it makes four days worth of lunches; I'm sure you could make it last a work-week depending on how big a lunch you like.

For flavoring, I've recently taken to adding some Old Bay seasoning, which I like pretty well. Sriracha is pretty good too.

Like I said, I often add additional stuff like tomatoes, spinach, avocado, sausage - but that's optional.

So, basically, what pdb said. No need to even heat the beans if you're just planning to mix it up and put it in the fridge for later anyway.

You could try cooking the rice in some kind of broth for extra flavor too, I suppose.
posted by nickmark at 10:16 AM on April 8, 2015

I'm honestly not a big bean fan but I've been enjoying the hell out of this vegan black-bean chili, which comes out with a super rich bittersweet flavor. The little bit of ground-up bay leaf adds bitterness, the roasted garlic and creamed corn balance it out with sweetness and thicken everything up, and the chiles are pretty mild and mostly contribute flavor and richness rather than heat.

2 dried ancho chiles
2 dried guajillo chiles
2 dried pasilla chiles
6 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
1 can black beans
1 can cream-style corn

Toast the chiles and the unpeeled cloves of garlic in a dry pan until the chiles are slightly soft and aromatic and the skin of the garlic is gently charred. (The garlic will take longer than the chiles.) Peel the garlic, stem and seed the chiles, and throw them in a blender with enough water to cover them. Add half of a bay leaf and no more to the blender, and pulverize the whole thing up together until it is smooth and thick.

Put the chile puree, the remaining unpulverized bay leaves, the beans and the creamed corn in a pot, and cook them together until it all thickens a bit. Serve over rice.

You could probably make this with fresh corn kernels sliced off the cob instead of creamed corn if you wanted to get all foodie about it, but I've never bothered. You could also add a bit of sugar if it came out more bitter than you like.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:32 AM on April 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

A nutritarian option: Red Bean Gumbo:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup water
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups no salt added or low sodium vegetable broth (or water)
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice, long or short grain
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 cups cooked dark red kidney beans or 1 (15 ounce) can no salt added or low sodium, drained
1 1/2 cups sliced okra
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Instructions:
Heat the 1/4 cup water in a large soup pot over medium heat and add the onion, pepper, celery, carrot and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until the rice is cooked and the vegetables are tender, about 35 minutes. Adjust seasonings if needed.

Serve with Tabasco sauce on the side for those who like it hot!

Or: Quick Spinach and Chickpea Curry

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans or 1 (15 ounce) can no-salt-added or low sodium garbanzo beans, drained
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes or 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 pounds baby spinach or 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 teaspoons garam masala or curry powder
2 cups cooked brown rice or other whole grain
Instructions:
In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, sauté the onion, stirring constantly, until it is just beginning to brown. Add the garlic and cook one minute more Add a tablespoon of water if needed to prevent sticking.

Add the garbanzo beans, tomatoes, spinach, red pepper flakes and garam masala. Stir and cook until spinach is wilted. Cover and cook over low heat for an additional 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Serve over 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice or other cooked whole grain.

posted by bearwife at 10:39 AM on April 8, 2015

Ghanaian rice and beans also known as Waachay.
1 cup dried black eyes peas (soaked for about an hour or two)
1 cup jasmine rice
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
Salt to taste

Boil beans till semi soft in 2 cups of water . Add rice and one more cup and salt. Stir. Add baking soda. Turn down heat and let rice cook till done. Eat with any tomato based sauce.

(bonus recipe for Ghanaian tomato sauce)
1 sweet onion (chopped)
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
I teaspoon crushed garlic
1 can crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1 habanero (you can use half if you're a wimp) cut up
salt to taste.

Cover bottom of pan with oil. Saute onions till translucent. Add ginger and garlic. toss for a few seconds. Add the habanero. Let mixture saute for a couple minutes till onions start to disintegrate. Add crushed tomatoes and salt. Cover and simmer till all the water from the tomatoes is reduced. Dish over rice/beans and add a boiled egg and you're good to go!
posted by ramix at 10:57 AM on April 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

Seconding chickpeas and spinach with saffron (that's Janet Mendel's recipe from Food and Wine).

Our staple is just plain old black beans (sauteed with onions, garlic, cumin, cayenne) and rice, but something you can do with the leftovers is make Bachelor Chow: mix the rice and beans and cook it in a frying pan with eggs and chopped hot peppers, until the eggs are completely cooked into tiny shreds evenly mixed with the rest. Eat as-is, or if you've been a good kid and really need fatty comfort food, use it to stuff a tortilla that you then panfry in butter. Mmmm.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:04 PM on April 8, 2015

Here's a scan of a Gallo Pinto recipe from a book I picked up on vacation in Costa Rica.
posted by achrise at 12:51 PM on April 8, 2015

Rice and peas (canned beans and white rice). Rice and peas (dried beans and brown rice from scratch). Rice and peas (Guyanese cooks add meat of some sort to make "Cook-Up Rice"). Bahamian peas and rice (and a little bacon).

(You can see some links to the Ghanaian rice and beans, but what makes all these versions truly luxe is the coconut milk.)
posted by maudlin at 3:26 PM on April 8, 2015

Here is a basic mjedra recipe (the word gets spelled a bunch of different ways in English), without all the spices in the first answer (above). It's pretty plain and simple and goes well with pita bread. It makes a great vegetarian sandwich that way. You can apparently find quite a few variations, with other spices.

It refrigerates well and tastes great reheated. I liked cutting pita bread in half, toasting it and stuffing it full of warm mjedra, also known as "Lentil pottage." I think I originally found the recipe in Diet for a Small Planet or perhaps Recipes for a Small Planet.
posted by Michele in California at 3:40 PM on April 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

From 'Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant':

Hoppin' John
Serves 6 to 8

4 cups fresh black-eyed peas
3 cups water
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp butter or vegetable oil
pinch of ground allspice
pinch of cayenne
1 1/2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
plenty of freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 cups cooked brown rice
1 large tomato, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup chopped scallions
chopped fresh parsley
(optional) sour cream or grated smoked cheddar cheese, if desired for garnish

Cook the black-eyed peas in the water and salt for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving the liquid.

Saute the onions and garlic in the butter or oil until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the allspice, cayenne, and soy sauce. Stir this mixture into the cooked peas with enough of the reserved liquid to make it juicy and simmer gently for about 20 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Stir often.

To serve, top the warm rice with the black-eyed peas and then the chopped fresh tomato, scallions, and parsley. Add sour cream (or plain yogurt) or grated smoked cheddar as well, if you like.
posted by unliteral at 6:51 PM on April 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Google for dal (lentil) recipes. There are lots of variations, and they go great with rice.
posted by redlines at 12:15 PM on April 9, 2015