Beans and Rice
Photo: daSupremo, CC BY-SA 4.0
This vegan take on Cajun rice and beans, close kin to gallo pinto, feeds five or six people for under ten dollars. The beans simmer for an hour or two with onion, green pepper, celery, a whole bulb of garlic, cumin and chili powder, so the seasoning goes right through them. It keeps well all week, which makes it a good batch dish for packed work lunches.
Instructions
Soak the dry beans overnight. If you are short on time, bring them to a boil in water and let them sit for one hour instead.
Warm some olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic until the onion turns translucent.
Stir in the green pepper and celery and cook for a few more minutes, until they begin to soften.
Add the soaked beans and pour in enough water to cover everything in the pot.
Add the bay leaves, cumin, chili powder, basil, salt, pepper and the hot peppers if you are using them. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer, stirring now and then, until the beans are tender. This takes 1 to 2 hours depending on how old the beans are.
When the beans are close to ready, put the rice in a separate pot with twice its volume of water, for example 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. Bring it to a rolling boil and cook until the water has dropped to the level of the rice.
Turn the heat down to a light simmer, cover the pot, and cook the rice for 20 minutes.
Spoon the beans over the rice and serve. Cornbread goes well alongside.
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