Rice and Red Beans With Coconut Milk, Chile and Garlic

By Mark Bittman

Updated June 13, 2017

Media 1 of 1
Total Time
About 1 hour
Rating
4(1,077)
Comments
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Here's an incredibly easy one-pot vegan dish you can put together on a weeknight. For extra oomph, add more jalapeños and garlic, and don't forget to season with salt and pepper as you go. Black, or “forbidden”, rice was used in the photo, but you can also use brown.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped

  • 1 bell pepper, preferably red or yellow, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped

  • 1 fresh or dried chile, like jalapeño or serrano, stemmed, seeded and minced

  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic

  • 1 ½ cups cooked kidney or other red beans

  • 1 ½ to 2 cups parboiled black rice or long-grain brown or black (shown) rice (see recipe)

  • 1 can coconut milk, about 1 ½ cups

  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • ½ cup chopped parsley or fresh cilantro leaves.

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)

82 grams carbs; 570 calories; 4 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 21 grams fat; 6 grams fiber; 521 milligrams sodium; 18 grams protein; 3 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put oil in a large ovenproof pot over medium heat. A minute later, add onion, bell pepper, chile and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add beans and enough water to barely cover. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat. Use an immersion blender or a potato masher to semipurée beans in pot (leave at least half unpuréed).

  2. Step 2

    Stir in rice, coconut milk, ½ cup water, thyme and a good amount of salt and pepper. (If you don't want a crust to develop, cover pot.) Bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then sprinkle with parsley or cilantro and serve.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,077 user ratings
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Comments

S.L.

Easy meal to make with things I generally have on hand. Excellent choice when making dinner for vegan friends. Not a big wow factor, just tasty and satisfying. Not sure what the picture is of, but it's not this recipe, which comes out pale in color from the coconut milk.

Craig Schoonmaker

Whereas this recipe sounds delicious, this Jamaican-me-has never heard of it and we certainly would never stoop to using a jalapeno!
Trinidadian perhaps?

Cindy

Made this last night, comfort food, not enough flavor. Used black beans (rinsed), followed directions/proportions exactly, used 3-4" serrano pepper, but dish was bland. Rice dominated too much, and picture above misrepresents--actually looks like risotto after rice swells (floating things above are kidney beans). Hoped for "Jamaican"! Doctored w/lots of salsa & guacamole, & way more fresh cilantro. Could taste coconut, not serrano or garlic. Took ~45 min+ to cook w/ lid!

Queenie

Very good! Great for kids too. If you have a rice cooker, consider adding the coconut milk there in place of water. I also tried combining the cooked rice after the rice cooker with the bean mix and coconut milk for the oven but reduced the time and it also came out well. Recommend to add the spice last to tailer each plate to heat interest.

PatC

Good. I used short grain brown rice and tried to cook cover but it ended up taking upwards of 60 minutes, uncovered the last 15. Was pretty watery out of the oven but rested to a nice consistency after about 20 minutes out. For seasoning I used 1 chipotle and 1 dried fresno with about 2x the garlic and the heat was OK. Might try with heavy whipping cream (coconut) vs coconut milk to give it a bit more thickness. The thyme melded will with the pepper and chilis.

TM

way too much coconut milk. this is just sweet slush not a bean soup. not sure how the photo got to be black when a full can of coconut milk just makes it white cream

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