Green Rice and Red Beans

Dear Turkey,

Green rice and red beans

This is truly a match made

In cooking heaven

Green Rice and Red Beans

(serves 2-3, adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

For the beans:

Ingredients:

- 1 T olive oil

- 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

- chipotle powder or smoked paprika to taste

- 2 t cumin

- 1 t oregano 

- 1 tiny can tomato paste

- 1/2-1 c broth (I used vogue cuisine veggie base, which I like here because it's not too salty)

- 1 can beans, rinsed and drained (I used small red beans)

- 1 T honey or maple syrup

- salt to taste 

Instructions:

- Heat the oil, garlic, honey, and spices for one minute. Add tomato paste, broth (start with 1/2 c), and beans and simmer for 10 minutes. 

- While simmering, add more broth if you need/want to. I tried to get a crust to form on the bottom of the beans by not stirring too much; it didn't totally work, but it was still delicious. 

For the rice:

Ingredients:

- 1 c uncooked brown rice

- 2 poblano peppers, seeded

- 2 c cilantro (stems are okay)

- 4 shallots, peeled

- 2-4 cloves garlic, peeled

- water or broth as needed (about 2-4 c), I used vogue cuisine veggie base 

- salt to taste

- lemon juice to taste (jarred is fine)

Instructions:

- In the blender, puree everything except the rice. Use enough broth or water to make it the consistency of a thin salsa. This isn't a smoothie here. Adjust lemon and salt. I ended up using a few T of lemon juice. 

- Cook the rice using the sauce that you just made as the liquid. You will have about half of the sauce left over; freeze this for next time after you reserve a bit for drizzling on your rice and beans. I used the rice cooker and I left it on warm for while after it was done cooking; otherwise I might have needed to trick it into cooking a bit more to make the rice really tender.

- Serve with the beans, tortillas, pickled red onions, and some speedy homemade cheese. 

Enjoy,

Tofu