Beans and Rice, Rice and Beans..........

[jlima]

OK--thank you!
Cold water? Warm water?
Anyone want to explain what to do next?

Cold water. Strain the mixture in a colander, then you use the beans in your recipe.

Some recipes say to soak overnight; wash the beans first then soak in different water.

 

[SnowWhite607]

Water temp doesnt matter. Let them soak then drain the water off. Put in a pot, add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer, adding onions and garlic. I dont add seasonings until closer to the end. I think the beans soften better if there is no salt. I add salt, pepper, and cayenne. You can fry sausage separately and serve it on the side or add it sliced to the pot and serve it with the beans over rice. They are done when the beans are soft and the juice has thickened a bit.

 

[SnowWhite607]

With Savoie's sausage, I hope, me sha!

They are not red beans without it!!

 

[TheLittleRoo]

Please, OH PLEASE... if any of you Louisianan's (?) could share your Etoufee recipe to serve over rice... I would FOREVER be in your debt!

My former neighbor taught me how to make it like they did in LA, and I lost the recipe. It had no shortcuts, it was the real deal, but all I remember was butter, onions, bell pepper - - and CLEAN crawfish. I'm getting off beans, but there is still RICE in the recipe! None of the food.com type recipes even come close to what he showed me how to make...

 

[bettyann29]

Thanks everyone for the great recipes.. I already did my grocery shopping this week but will definitely plan a few of these next week..

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Something DH and I have learned is you can put just about ANYTHING in a burrito. If you want to make it extra, extra special, pan-grill the burrito after it's all wrapped--it gives it a little crispiness that's heavenly!

Beans and rice are great in a burrito, alone or with cheese, tomato, onion or celery (yes, celery!) or probably ANY veggie you like (stir fry is tasty in a burrito...grilled cheese and tomato is tasty in a burrito...etc.)

 

[PatriciaH]

Baked beans, hot dogs cut up (turkey dogs are good too), salsa and cheddar cheese mixed in. Heat it up-quick and tasty.

 

[crisi]

Meatless chili (tomatos, beans, chili mix).

This one is good, panceta is really expensive, but it works well with leftover ham or bacon or even vegetarian. And I use any kind of white beans - and skip the parsley.

Florentine White Bean Soup
Excerpted from Food Made Fast: Soup by Georgeanne Brennan (Oxmoor
House, 2006)

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 ounces pancetta or bacon, chopped
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, minced
1. In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the oil. When it is
hot, add the pancetta and sauté until it browns slightly, about 5
minutes. Raise the heat to medium, add the onion and carrots, and
sauté until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic
and oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 2
minutes.

2. Stir in the tomato paste, mixing well. Add the broth and the
beans. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then reduce
the heat to medium. Add the spinach and cook until it is wilted and
the flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt
and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with the parsley, and
serve.

 

[spalady]

Here's another rice recipe:

In a skillet on top of stove melt 1 stick of butter (or margarine) add 1 cup of rice~(just coat the rice with the butter) then put it into a 2 quart baking bowl add 1 can of campbells beef broth and 1 can of campbells french onion soup. Cover with foil bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

My fiance is Cuban and I love his black beans. He never measures so I have no idea how much he uses but what he does is soak a bag of black beans overnight and sorts the beans to make sure all the dirt and cracked beans are thrown out.

The next day he dumps the beans and half the water they were soaking in into a pot and boils for 3 hours. After the 3 hours he cooks Olive Oil, onions, green peppers, oregano and bay leaves in a fry pan and simmers for about 30 minutes. He adds that mixture to the pot of black beans as well as Cider vinegar and continues to boil the mixture until beans are tender. We put it over yellow rice.

 

[jlima]

Please, OH PLEASE... if any of you Louisianan's (?) could share your Etoufee recipe to serve over rice... I would FOREVER be in your debt!

Crawfish Etouffée

​

¼ cup margarine
2 tsp salt
¼ cup oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup flour
1 tbsp black pepper
2 bunches green onions
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 bell peppers
¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
1 stalk celery
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 16-oz can tomatoes
6 cups water (or seafood stock)
3 tsp garlic powder
3 lbs peeled crawfish tails, rinsed & drained

Heat oil and margarine, preferably in an iron Dutch over sprayed with nonstick spray. Add flour and brown lightly. Chop green onions and reserve tops. In food processor or blender, chop the vegetables and tomatoes. Add to the roux. Add seasonings, cover and cook about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water (or stock) and cook slowly for at least an hour. Add crawfish tails and chopped onion tops and cook about 15 minutes. Serve over cooked rice & enjoy.

This recipe is from a cookbook called River Road Recipes III, A Healthy Collection. Change seasonings to your liking . . . I would use white pepper instead of black; and I wouldn’t use a whole tablespoon! Since DH doesn’t like bell peppers, I would substitute celery for the bell peppers if I made this recipe. I would also use fresh garlic instead of garlic powder. You could also consider using Rotel tomatoes; and use less pepper, as the chilies in the tomatoes would give the etouffée flavor.

 

[SnowWhite607]

FYI - This can also be made with shrimp or chicken although the traditional way is with the crawfish. I know that sometimes in the North seafood can be cost prohibitive while here in Louisiana, it is plentiful and cheap most of the time. Too bad I dont like it! LOL!

 

[Hedy]

Two things I like to do with my canned beans:

• chickpea salad-drain chickpeas. Combine with olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt and parmesan cheese. Eat cold (great brown bag lunch)
• Doctored black beans. Cook diced onions and garlic in a saucepan with olive oil until clear. Add 1 can black beans plus liquid. Add cumin, oregano and hot sauce to taste. Heat until beans are softened. I store this in the fridge, take to work and heat it up. I threw some cilantro in today that i had laying around the fridge. be aware that bean quaklity differs brand to brand-I like Trader Joe's and Goya, and i've heard Bush's are good too. I made this batch with Pastene and it just wasn't the same.

 

[TheLittleRoo]

Thanks for the etoufee recipe. The weird thing is: I don't remember this recipe having anything tomato in it whatsoever. Is that possible? They were definitely Cajun tho, from Slidell LA! That stuff was goooo-ooood!

I wanted to add my mom's recipe for what she called Japanese Rice, which is basically stir-fry with sausage. It's wonderful, and everyone always eats seconds and thirds even my kids and their teenage buddies!

Everything is from memory, so my recipe will be kind of rounded off.

1 lb pack of smoked sausage (Eckrich, or such) links
1/2 c bell pepper ( I use frozen or fresh)
1 c petite green peas (sneaking in veggies!!)
1/2 c diced onions (definitely use frozen in mine!)
2 eggs
4-8 tbsp soy sauce (to your liking)
cooked rice (I make 2 cups of rice in the pot with 3 cups water)

First, start the rice cooking for 15 minutes.
Next, slice the sausage diagonally to increase the surface area for browning. Brown them in a sauce pan, add bell peppers and onions toward the end and soften those. Scoot them to one side of the pan and add beaten eggs to scramble on the other side. Let it cook almost all the way before breaking it up to keep the eggs looking pretty instead of gray and sick.

Zap the peas in water in the microwave to warm them first, then drain and add to the sauce pan with the rest. Douse in soy sauce, stir, then add cooked rice and stir to distribute the soy sauce and turn the rice brown. That's it! Serve and be ready to pass the bowl for seconds! I love this easy recipe from my childhood days, and hope others do too!

 

[SnowWhite607]

You're kidding?! I am from Slidell, Louisiana!! What a small world!!

 

[Cinerbelle]

I love this recipe!

1lb. Pinto Beans (dry)
3/4 bag frozen chopped onion (cuz I'm lazy)
3/4 bag frozen chopped green bell pepper (cuz I'm still lazy)
1Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Pepper
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp. Minced Garlic
1/4 tsp. Cumin
1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano
Ham (I buy 3 ham steaks and cut them up into bite size pieces)
2 Cups Water


Rinse the beans and put them in a pot of water to soak overnight...next morning rinse them again, fill the pot with water and put them on the stovepot on high for 30 minutes... drain and rinse again and then move them to the crockpot on low all day with the above ingredients. I serve with white rice, tortillas and butter!

 

[jlima]

You're kidding?! I am from Slidell, Louisiana!! What a small world!!

Born & raised in Terrebonne Parish . . .

 

[dbarker]

My family is from the South. Cheap dinner I grew up on: Brown beans (pinto beans) and corn bread.

My recipe:

Wash the dried beans.
Put in crock pot w/ some bacon or salt pork
Fill crock pot nearly to the top w/ water
Turn on low

For the corn bread I use Jiffy brand corn muffin mix and bake in a cast iron skillet.

They cook all day and are done when I get home from work.

 

[TexasTodds]

What I like to do with leftover rice (or I just make the rice the night before, so that it can be refridgerated) is to make Fried Rice. It is also a good use of leftover diced ham and peas (I would use frozen, not the canned so they are more "crisp".

I brown onion, and then add diced ham (or leftover pork), and peas In a decent sized pot. Then I add the rice, and stir to mix well until heated through. Add soy sauce to taste, and green onions if desired. In a small skillet I scramble 1 egg and then add to the rice. I usually add a frozen egg roll or two for myself, and for the kids I just do the rice with some sort of cut up melon (we do this is dad isn't home since he is a picky eater, and doesn't do chinese food.)

You really do need to start out with cold rice, because the moisture in warm rice makes it sticky, and just a big mess overall.