RECIPE: Beans and Rice (But Nice)

I didn't mean for that headline to rhyme and to sound so trite. So please ignore that bad parts of it.


But there's no dollars for nothin' else
I got beans, rice and bread on my shelf
KRS One - Loves Gonna Getcha (Material Love)


(This was after reheating. Fresh, it looks even better IF YOU CAN BELIEVE THAT!)

After a few weekends of excess, I wanted to make something that wasn't over the top and that was relatively simple. And what better way to keep it simple than pretend to be poor like a poor person and eat a poor person's food (not literally; gross) like beans and rice?


The following things

Part 1
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and diced
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and diced
- 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 brown onion, diced
- Around 2 tablespoons of neutral oil
- 3 dried chillis, deseeded somewhat and chopped finely

Part 2
- 1 teaspoon of paprika (preferably smoked)
- A pinch of cinnamon (optional)
- A pinch of coriander seeds (optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste

Part 3
- 1/2 a red capsicum, roughly chopped
- 1/2 a green capsicum, roughly chopped
- 4 tomatoes, skin removed and roughly chopped

Part 4
- 2 cups of red rice (other types of rice would work, except white)
- 1 tin of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 5 cups of vegetable stock

Part 5
- Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish
- A few things of coriander (you want leaf and stem)


But HOOOOW?

- Add the oil into a large pot on a medium heat.
- Once warm, add the rest of the Part 1 ingredients.
- Stir them for a while until the onions have sweated down a bit.
- Add Part 2's ingredients. A heavy pinch of salt and pepper should suffice at this stage.
- Add Part 3's ingredients and stir for a little while until the capsicums and tomatoes have softened a little.
- Add Part 4's ingredients and stir to combine.
- Lower the stove to the lowest setting and simmer until the rice has cooked. Stir a couple of times and adjust the salt and pepper if needed.
- It tastes great on its own, but if you need to make it handsome then add a sprinkle of finely chopped coriander.