Beans & Rice

Here is another simple and hearty recipe. It comes together quickly and requires only a little chopping of vegetables. I can be somewhat lax in my chopping - don't need to be super small - since half of the vegetables will be pureed in the blender. Occasionally, I will fry up some Beyond sausage brats to go in it as well. But, mostly it's just beans and rice and cornbread. And, yes, the cornbread recipe is available as well.

Serves: 6 Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup basmati (long grain) white rice

• 2 cups water

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 15 oz cans kidney, black, pinto, or mixed beans (your choice)

• 4 cups vegetable broth

• 1/2 cup diced onion

• 3 stalks celery - diced

• 1 small green bell pepper - diced

• 1 Tbsp chili powder

• 1 tsp parsley

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp salt

Instructions:

Rice:

1. In a pot with a tight fitting lid, bring the rice and 2 cups water to boil.

2. Reduce heat to low, and maintain a gentle simmer for 25 minutes.

3. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Beans:

1. In a large soup pot, add oil over medium heat.

2. Add celery, onion, and green bell pepper. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Pour broth into blender.

4. Rinse beans and add about 1/4 to blender.

5. Add about half of sauteed vegetables to blender.

6. Puree in blender for 15 seconds.

7. Add blender contents to soup pot along with rest of beans and seasonings.

8. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low for 20 minutes.

9. Serve the bean mixture over the basmati rice.

Chef's Notes: It's a good idea to start the rice before anything else so it'll be ready when the beans are ready. So, get 2 cups of water and 1 cup of rice boiling in a medium soup pot. Reduce the heat to low, put the lid on and let it simmer for about 25-30 minutes. You're looking for all of the water to be absorbed and the rice tender. Chop up all of your vegetables then start cooking. In a large soup pot, add the oil over medium heat. Let it get hot - about 30 seconds then add celery, onion, and green bell pepper. Saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. Remove from heat and set aside. I use bouillon cubes, so at this point I would have to prepare my broth. 2 cubes for 4 cups of water in the microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk that and pour into a blender. Rinse both cans of beans and add about 1/4 of them to the broth in the blender. Add about half of sauteed vegetables to blender. Puree for 15 seconds. Add blender contents to soup pot along with the rest of the beans and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low for 20 minutes. This allows the flavors to come together. You can simmer it longer if you prefer, just keep an eye on it so it doesn't simmer away to nothing but burnt to the bottom of the pot. Serve the bean mixture over the basmati rice. I serve this meal with cornbread.

Here is another simple and hearty recipe. It comes together quickly and requires only a little chopping of vegetables. I can be somewhat lax in my chopping - don't need to be super small - since half of the vegetables will be pureed in the blender. Occasionally, I will fry up some Beyond sausage brats to go in it as well. But, mostly it's just beans and rice and cornbread. And, yes, the cornbread recipe is available as well.