Rice and Beans with Pork and Vegetables
Ingredients
2 servings
- Black or red beans 100 g (dried)
- Rice 100 g (uncooked)
- Pork belly 200 g
- Onions 2
- Red bell pepper 1
- Chili pepper 2
- Carrot 1
- Garlic 2-3 cloves
- Butter 2 tbsp
- Cilantro, parsley 4-5 sprigs
- Ground coriander 1-2 pinches
- Salt, ground chili to taste
- Water for soaking and boiling the beans and rice
Step-by-step recipe
Beans and rice
We’ll make the rice and beans from pre-cooked beans and rice. Ideally use black beans, as for chicken with beans, or red beans. But speckled or white beans will do too, although for looks they aren’t the best choice. The rice should be fluffy. Parboiled rice works well, as does devzira, the Central Asian rice used for plov, or brown rice.
Cook the beans. Sort through the beans, discarding any damaged ones, and soak them overnight in cold water. Cook until tender in plenty of salted water: soaked beans usually cook in 20-30 mins. Drain, then transfer them to a bowl and cover so they don’t dry out.
You can also use canned beans, especially if you’re short on time. They don’t need cooking, just drain them.
Cook the rice. Rinse the rice under running water until all the rice flour left from polishing is washed away. If the rice is brown, be ready for it to take much longer to cook. If you know the rice well, you can cook it in a measured amount of water (for example, 1:2). But to be safe, it’s much easier to boil the rice in plenty of water until tender and then drain it in a colander.
Meat and vegetables
Fry the pork belly. Melt the butter over medium heat in a sauté pan or a frying pan with a lid and fry the diced pork belly until it just starts to brown. Choose a not-too-fatty part so there’s more meat.
Fry the vegetables until soft. Peel the carrot and dice it. Add the carrot to the meat and fry for 3-4 mins.
Seed the bell and chili peppers and cut them into small pieces. Peel the onions and dice them or cut into thick strips. Add the onions and peppers to the fried meat. Keep frying over medium heat with the pan uncovered until the vegetables are soft.
Season with garlic and spices. When the vegetables are soft, add the finely chopped garlic, season with salt to taste and add 1-2 pinches of ground coriander and ground chili to taste. By the way, you can toast coriander seeds in a dry pan for 2-3 mins, then grind them in a mortar. That makes the coriander far more fragrant and gives the rice and beans a refined flavor.
Combine and steam
Steam the rice and beans. Add the cooked rice and beans to the meat and vegetables. Stir everything and cover the pan.
Turn the heat down to the minimum. The rice with beans, vegetables and meat should steam for 15-20 mins. Stir it 2-3 times during that time, piling the rice, beans and vegetables into a mound.
While the rice and beans finish cooking, strip the herb leaves from the sprigs and chop them finely with a knife. Discard the stems: they’re tough and no good for the dish.
Serving
When the rice and beans are fully done, put them on plates or on one big platter, as you prefer. Sprinkle with the finely chopped herbs.
Rice and beans can be a dish on its own or an excellent side for breaded pork chops or grilled pork loin.
Calories and macros
1060 kcal
Serving ≈ 340 g
- Protein27 g11% of kcal
- Fat66 g58% of kcal
- Carbs79 g31% of kcal
100 g314 kcalProtein 7.9 gFat 19.4 gCarbs 23.4 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.