Rice and Red Beans With Coconut Milk, Chile and Garlic

By Mark Bittman

Rice and Red Beans With Coconut Milk, Chile and Garlic
Total Time
About 1 hour
Rating
4(1,064)
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
  • 2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1bell pepper, preferably red or yellow, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1fresh or dried chile, like jalapeño or serrano, stemmed, seeded and minced
  • 1tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1½cups cooked kidney or other red beans
  • 1½ to 2cups parboiled black rice or long-grain brown or black (shown) rice (see recipe)
  • 1can coconut milk, about 1½ cups
  • 1teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ½cup chopped parsley or fresh cilantro leaves.
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

555 calories; 20 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 79 grams carbohydrates; 13 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 516 milligrams sodium

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
1,064 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!

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

Cary

just made this for the first time. its an easy dish to bring to the table with minimal effort and pantry ingredients. seems relatively healthy and its satisfying. the recipe itself is a little loose with the details, specifically how much water to add and whether or not to cover the pot. I covered the pot because I was worried it would dry out, but after 20 minutes it was essentially a soup. luckily, the rice wasn't fully cooked yet, so i roasted another 10 minutes with the lid off and it worked

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