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So when I realized that the only recipe I had ingredients for last night was Belinean Rice and Beans, I felt – for the first time in my Cook-The-World Campaign – bored. The only interesting ingredient was the coconut milk, so I made it. I half expected another spunky Caribbean dish: coconut, onion, garlic.
But no. The combination of thyme and coconut was immensely soothing. Maybe it's just because it was another cold and rainy May day in Boston, but I place this dish squarely in the warm and wonderful realm of comfort food.
I'll try to remember the strange soothingness of this Belinean dish when I tire in the future – as surely I will – of the relentless progression of rice and beans.
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Belinean Rice and Beans
Makes enough for 8
1/2 pound red kidney beans (~2 cups, uncooked)
1 medium onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced
2 cups rice
1 cup thick coconut milk
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Soak the beans overnight in water.
Combine beans, onion, and garlic in a pot with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the beans are tender – about 20 minutes. Add the rice, coconut milk, salt, and thyme. Cook, covered, over low heat until the rice is done and all the liquid is absorbed, adding a little water if the liquid is absorbed before the rice is done.
Eat warm, preferably on a cold and rainy day.
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