Red Beans and Rice

If you haven’t been to the grocery store in a while because you’re trying to keep away from people during the pandemic, here’s a recipe for which you may already have most or all of the ingredients at home. Even if you don’t have everything, omitting or substituting a couple things (except the rice and beans) will still make for a great dish.

Of course, there are many rice and beans recipes online, but this is from Bon Appetit.

What you’ll need:

• 3 slices bacon, chopped (omitting this makes the recipe vegan)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 0.75 cups chopped red bell pepper (we had only yellow peppers at home)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups long-grain white rice—uncooked
• 3 bay leaves
• 2T tomato paste
• 1T ground cumin
• 1T hot Spanish smoked paprika (oh, for god’s sake, just use smoked paprika. Come on, Bon Appetit!)
• 2t salt
• 4 cups water
• 1 15½-ounce can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained (within reason, it seems any canned beans would work)
  

What to do:

Sauté the chopped bacon in a large, heavy saucepan with a tight cover over medium-high heat until the bacon is brown and the fat is rendered. This will take a few minutes. 

Add the onion, red pepper and and garlic, sautéing until the onion is golden. This will also take a few minutes. 

Add the rice, stirring until coated, followed by the bay leaves, tomato paste, cumin, paprika, and salt. 

Now add 4 cups of water and the beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, then cover and cook until the rice is tender and all the liquid has been absorbed. This will take about 20 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let it stand covered 10 minutes. 

Fluff the rice with a fork, then remove the bay leaves, and serve.