How to get the beans and rice out of your food storage and onto your plate

Use the inexpensive dried beans and rice, from the store or your food storage, effectively and easily with these cooking tips. Dried beans in storage do no good if you don’t know how to safely prepare this inexpensive food.

Beans and Rice

Beans and rice are traditional foods of many cultures.  Together they make a complete protein, although they are often teamed up with other proteins such as meat or cheese.  They are safe for a gluten-free diet, although not low carb.  Beans and rice as a side dish along or as a main dish together, are comfort foods that say winter, and rest to our spirits.  You can make them easily from scratch, without opening a can or a packaged mix.  When made from scratch with dried beans and rice, they are economical and satisfying.  They can also be quick if you follow a few time management tips.

For instructions on pressure canning your own dried beans go to our last lesson.

 

Time Management Tips for scratch cooking with beans and rice

Begin the night before to plan your meals for the next day.

This is the very best time to soak beans, or put your meat in the fridge to thaw.

Look through the fridge and plan to use up garden produce, or bits and pieces of left overs

This is the time to add small quantities of vegetables to your freezer container for future stock

If this is the beginning of the week, take a few minutes and use your food processor to chop onions, and vegetables, shred cabbage and slaw, and generally prepare a few days of vegetables ahead of your needs.

Is your day tomorrow going to be hectic?  If so take the crock pot out tonight and put it on the counter so that you remember in the morning to put the meat, potatoes, and vegetables in the crock pot and plug it in before you have to leave.  Don’t feel like a stew?  Just put the meat and onions, garlic, salt, and spices with 2 cups of water or a jar of tomatoes in the crock pot and plug it in on low.  Rinse and soak 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of water (for 3 servings) and leave it on the counter.  When you get home, drain and rinse the rise again and add 1 ½ cups fresh water to the pot with the rice.  Your rice will be ready in 15 minutes.  Adjust the salt and spices in the crock pot, add the rest of your sauce ingredients (coconut oil, curry spices, or what have you.).  Your meal will be ready in the time it takes to set the table and change out of your work clothes.

If you are using an electric rice cooker, set the timer and your rice can be ready when the rest of your meal is done. Though, using a stove top pot is just as easy and effective as a rice cooker.

Beyond Rice and Beans – in a hurry!

What if you forgot to set up the crock pot or something interfered with your dinner plans.  You can still cook your dinner from scratch if you have some home canned jars of tomato sauce, some canned beans or quick cooking red or green lentils, or adzuki beans plus some rice, potatoes, or pasta (or even squash).  Lentils or adzuki beans will cook in the same amount of time it takes to cook rice.

Spice up cooked lentils, canned kidney beans, cooked adzuki beans, or ground beef:

In the following recipe these precooked beans or leftover cooked ground beef can be used interchangeably for different meals. These are budget meals.  You can add more exotic ingredients to make it fancier and more appealing, depending on your budget.  (See notes at the end).

Sweet and sour lentils with rice (30 to 40 min prep and cooking time.  Dinner is ready when rice is cooked).

Begin cooking rice 20 to 40 min. depending on variety.  Rinse rice.  Place in saucepan or rice cooker – 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. 

Add to cooked lentils (to cook lentils add 1 cup of lentils to 3 cups of water and simmer for 20 min.)

¼ cup apple or pineapple juice

¼ c. cider vinegar

¼ c. organic sugar or 2 tbsp. honey

`1 garlic clove crushed

1 onion, diced and sautéed

Heat together until bubbly and serve over rice.  Add a salad or raw veggies and dip for a complete meal.

 

Easy lentil stew – Total time: 30 to 40 min.  Prep and cooking.

Add 2 cups of left over tomato sauce

1 cup diced carrots, cooked

1 cup diced turnips, parsnips, celery, rutabagas, green beans, or peas

1 clove of garlic

2 to 4 potatoes peeled and diced or sweet potatoes or squash

Cook together with already cooked lentils until heated through.  {Don’t cook lentils in tomato sauce but add already cooked lentils to tomato sauce. You can cook lentils in water (1 cup of lentils to 3 cups of H2O) while you assemble the other ingredients and bring them to a simmer.}

Add a salad for a complete meal.

 

Curried lentils – total time 30 to 40 min. prep and cooking

Simmer 1 cup of rice (rinse first) with 2 cups of water (makes 3 cups)

While rice is cooking, in a separate pan, sautee together:

¼ c. coconut oil

1 large onion diced

1 clove garlic, minced

Add 2 cups of coconut cream (use Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate – 2 tbsp. mixed with 2 cups of boiling water, mix until smooth)

1 to 2 tsp. curry spice

Add 2 cups cooked lentils.

Heat together until bubbly.  Serve over rice. Add a cole slaw or oriental salad for a complete meal.

 

Refried beans on pita bread or tortillas

Mix leftover cooked Lentils or cooked kidney beans, sautéed onions, and coconut oil.  Mash with potato masher.  Add a few tablespoons of tomato paste or leftover tomato sauce.  Add chili powder, or cumin to taste.  Spread on tortillas or pita bread.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Bubble briefly in toaster oven or under the broiler.  Serve with a tomato, green pepper, and cucumber salad (dressing: 2 tbsp. olive oil, 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, ¼ tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 small crushed garlic clove, pinch of dried oregano, pinch of cilantro – beat together with a fork until smooth.  Pour over salad vegetables.)

 

Understanding Rice

Rice is the staple for the food pantry and even more so if you have a family member who is gluten free.  All rice is not the same.  Although you may be used to Minute Rice or Polished long grain white rice, there are many options to keep you from being bored with your meal planning – even when you are in a hurry to get the meal on the table.

Basic rice cooking instructions:

Using a fine sieve or strainer take 1 cup of rice and rinse well in cold water.  Drain.

Put 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes for white rice.  Brown rice takes 40 min. but less if rice is pre-soaked for at least 1 hour before cooking.

 

Short Grain Rice

Short grain rice is starchy and is the rice used in dishes where the stickiness of rice is of benefit.  Sweet rice, sticky rice, and Arborio dishes take advantage of the starch of short grain rice.  Short grain rice is the rice to use if you are grinding rice for flour in order to use it in gluten free cooking.  The starchiness helps gluten free breads stick together. Use short grain rice if you want to make rice pudding, long grain rice does NOT work well in rice pudding unless you add additional tapioca or potato starch.

 

Long Grain Rice

Long grain rice doesn’t stick together and is cooked so that it separates into individual rice grains when fluffed with a fork at the end of cooking time.  Medium grain rice has some of the characteristics of both short grain and long grain rice.

 

Brown Rice

Brown rice has the germ of the grain and the rice oils still intact in the grain.  Brown rice will sprout and can be made into rice malt.  Brown rice also has more B vitamins than white rice.  Brown rice is often aged before it is sold – such as brown basmati rice – specialty rice used in Indian cooking and one of my favorite rice.  However, brown rice, when kept in a warm, humid environment and not protected from air can have a “bad smell” and go rancid.  To keep your brown rice fresh, buy it in foil, sealed bags and store it in a cool, dry, place, protected from heat, moisture, and light.

 

What is Minute Rice and Converted Rice?

Minute rice has been preboiled and then dried again.  It is expensive and not worth the price, since ordinary white rice cooks in only 20 minutes.  It’s rare to be able to assemble a meal in less time than it take ordinary rice to cook.

Converted rice is brown rice that has be parboiled and then dried again.  This parboiling allows brown rice to cook in 20 minutes, like white rice, while maintaining the B vitamins.  It is more expensive than regular brown rice, because it is processed.

 

Specialty Rice

Wild rice is specialty rice.  It is grown in Northern marshy areas and fermented before it is dried for sale.   It has a nutty, wild flavor and is usually added to other rice dishes.  It is expensive and because of its wild flavor is not usually served on its own, in place of other rice.  Cook it by using ½ cup of wild rice to 2 cups of water (serves 4).  It cooks in about 30 min.

Specialty organic stores like Tropical Traditions online, carry other specialty rice, too.  Forbidden Rice is a black-purple rice that is very short grain, and rich in antioxidants.  Cook it with 1 cup of rice to 1 ¾ cups of water.  It is ready in 30 min. It has a rich nutty – fruity taste that transforms a Meatless Monday Meal or a plain meal into a festive occasion.  It goes great with game meal and lamb as well, with its rich, fruity flavor.

Heirloom Bhutan Red Rice is specialty rice available from Tropical Traditions.  It is a short grain red rice.  Cook it with 1 cup of rice to 1 ½ cup of water.  This rice complements curry dishes, and rich meat sauces.

 

How to get more mileage from specialty rice:

To extend a specialty rice try mixing several specialty rice with brown basmati rice and wild rice.  Rinse and pre-soak a combination of specialty rices with Basmati and use ratio of 1 cup of mixed rice to 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer the rice for 30 to 40 minutes until done.  Fluff with a fork.  Add a tsp of butter or olive oil and salt to taste before serving for rice pilaf.

Recap: Time management in your busy schedule – Mastering Beans and Rice

Plan the night before for dinner on your busy days.  Put beans on to soak overnight or thaw meat in the fridge overnight.

Set up your crock pot for beans or meat in the morning and let it simmer all day.  Meal can be ready in the time it takes to cook rice or make a salad.

If you forget your crock pot rely on lentils, adzuki beans, canned beans, or leftover meat for dinner.

If you are running out of ideas, try one of these quick meals that can be ready in the time it takes to cook rice.

To cook rice, rinse rice in cold water.  Put in small pot 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil and turn down heat.  Simmer for 20 to 40 minutes depending on rice variety.  Before serving fluff with a fork.  Or follow directions on your rice cooker.

 

Your Turn:

Beans and rice are versatile when it comes to pantry based meal planning, what is your favorite combination of these? What time constraints do you face when you want to cook from scratch?  How can I help?