Just what it says. Thats what I'm lookin for since I know we have lots of culinary experts around. It all started in hopes of improving my simple cooking skills and I started with a black beans and (brown) rice recipe I found here. Added some sausage and it turned out surprisingly good and very filling. A hearty, healthy meal for less than 5 bucks! Anyway, I have a newfound respect for the lowly beans and rice, especially as a survival food. Looking for simple recipes, tips, or suggestions. What other spices could I use besides cumin and cayanne pepper?

I make this in about a 4qt. size slow cooker.
Fill the cooker with water to pre-soak beans.
Check/sort about 1/2 pound of pinto beans. At some point you Will
find a small pebble, it's better to find it now than break a tooth on it!
Soak these beans for 8 hours ( overnight ).
Drain and discard the water, or not. Some people will use it to
cook other things with, I don't.

You now have your 1/2 pounds of soaked "Fat" beans.
Refill the slow cooker with water leaving an 1in or 2in of space
for extra ingredients.
To this water add one Knorr tomato/chicken soup cube.
Add one small smoked turkey leg, This is why you leave
the 1 or 2 in of space.
You could add any type of meat you like , Spam, Ham Shank ( more meaty than hocks ) sausage etc. I got a deal on the turkey legs so
I use those.
Add 1/2 Onion chopped up or 1/2 tbs of Onion flakes.
turn your cooker on and 6 hours later you have dinner.
If you don't want it quite so soupy then mix up 1 tbs of
corn starch in 1/2 cup of cold water and stir it into the
finished beans. 10 min later it will thicken up to a gravy.

I serve this with buttered bread.
I put a slice of b. bread in a bowl and top it with a big scoop of bean soup.
I sometimes also add instant rice to soak up the soup or I will
leave the bread out and pour the soup over plain cooked rice.

Total prep time is about 10 min. of actual work.

Sounds a lot like how my Mother used to make them. The only differences that I can see is that she didn't use a tomato/chicken cube and instead of just pinto beans, she would mix pintos and great northerns about half and half. Now if I see a bowl of just pinto beans alone, it looks like there is something wrong. Gotta have the great northerns too. I make mine the same way she does. That and a plate of cornbread (no sugar thank you very much ) hot out of the oven ...... man I'm getting hungry all of a sudden .....


LW

have nothing to include for recipes, but love beans and rice.

I add a can of corn and a can of stewed tomatoes, to rice and beans. I drain and reserve the liquids from the cans, and use it to replace some of the broth, or if I'm adding spicy meat, I just use water, instead of broth.

+1 on the cornbread!

IMO, rice and beans need fat for flavor. The combination is a healthy and filling one, but without something added to it, it's not something that tastes great. Added some meat with fat makes it into something that is qualified to be called food, not just the intake of energy.

For me, different meats seem to work well with different beans. A smoked turkey drumstick or two in a pot of dried limas is a good combination, as are:

1. smoked ham hocks and small white or navy beans;
2. red beans with bacon and smoked sausage;
3. black beans and chorizo;
4. lentils with Italian sausage;
5. large white beans and kielbasa or knockwurst;
etc., etc., etc.

Things to consider, what beans and meat YOU think make a good combination; what other things you think should be added to that combination. I could not imagine making a pot of beans without starting with some onions. After cooking onions until they are at least clear, my beans dishes will all vary. I do not really follow recipes, but add what seems to be right at that time with those ingredients. For a pot with lentils and Italian sausage, I might add to the onions once clear, some garlic, dried thyme, sausage, and then maybe a little escarole and stock (either chicken or veggie). The pot with kielbasa is going to get different stuff, maybe some tomato, parsley, marjoram, paprika, etc.

There's more ways to cook beans than there are people who are cooking beans.

Also, the grain you use need not always be rice. As mentioned above, I've had beans with corn bread, ladled right on top instead of rice or on the side in addition to rice. I've forgotten what I did, but I recalls cooking beans with a beef sausage and beef broth, that I served on with pearled barley. I added the barley to what was really soup with beans and sausage, and let it soak up all the broth. I'm sure you can do the same with other grains.

Great stuff, folks. Taking notes. Keep it coming.

Great. Thanks everyone. Gonna try these recipes out. Question though. How long do you let barley cook and how much do you put in? Oh, and please feel free to list your cornbread recipes too.

LED

Here is a recipe that I have found that is very similar to the one I use and my recipe is from my Grandmother who was the head cook at a dude ranch in Montana once-upon-a-time. The main difference is I use more bacon (mmmmmmm, BACON) and/ or cubed bone-in (country style) ham. I also add onion, sometimes garlic, I also have another recipe (Grandmas) that is called cowboy beans. Use the simple one first.

recipe

Now a warning: This website is very photo intensive. You may experience severe drooling in which may case you may need to buy a new keyboard. Don't blame me I am only the messenger.

Standard disclaimer applies.

Try cooking your beans in a cast iron pot, yummy. Barley cooks in about a 1/2 hour or so.

Stargazer

Thanks Stargazer, got all the ingredients. Gonna be a bean eating weekend.

LED,

How did the bean eating weekend turn out, just curious.

Stargazer

My wife makes a great 6-bean chili. Sometimes we add meat, sometimes not. This would probably be pretty good with the sausage and the rice. Sounds good anyway. Yum, dinner plans aplenty. I will try it and let you know. Unless someone else beats me to it.

My beans and rice recipe is pretty simple.

-One bag of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (usually the whole grain type)

-One 8.3oz (small) can of Bush's Baked Beans Original [Seasoned with bacon and Brown Sugar]

=Heat 'em up in a pot mixed together, then spice to taste.

I know it's probably not the healthiest bean and rice combo out there, but it's easy to make since you don't need to boil water (just heat and serve), it's easy to carry since it's already in sealed containers, and it's pre-proportioned so it's easy to measure my daily intake. It's one of my go-to hiking/camping meals.

Paul, your camping menu is barbaric. In other words, your camp cookery is a lot like mine. Unless DW is along, which changes everything.

I have no worries about a slow-cook bean-and-rice recipe, with pigeon/rabbit, plus lots of cayenne or curry. But I have a wood stove, so I have slow and regular heat to spare.

In an apartment, with a minimal camp stove, the can-of-beans-plus-quick-rice could just be a hit.

What wine would you pair with that? (Kidding!)

Haha, my brother is the cook in the family, I just do what I can to get by. Usually that means putting together whatever I've got sitting in the cabinet and seeing if it's edible or not.

As far as wine goes, I prefer whiskey. A little bourbon goes well with the mix.

Stargazer, first time I used too much water and it turned out not so good. Second time was much better, maybe cause I used more bacon and less water. Anyway, I'm still on a bean kick. Been experimenting with black, kidney, pinto, and next I'm on to limas. Friend of mine made an amazing lima bean and black eyed pea dish with some red pepper and I forgot what else. Gonna look for recipies and try that next. I'm just trying not to use too much water or overcook 'em.

LED,

If there is too much water try this idea.

Start with enough water to barely cover the beans. Then add 1 full cup (8 oz) to your pot. If this looks too skimpy add only 1 more and then cook. If the beans look to dry, but are not yet cooked add more water. REMEMBER: You can always add more water, or spices, but you have a hard time taking it back out if too much.

Beans are usually done when they mash easily with a fork, or the fork inserts easily, but doesn't break the bean, this is called fork tender, and is used by cooks everywhere.

Since your still trying recipes a traditional Thanksgiving recipe the Native Americans (First Nations)people brought a dish to the feast (Not the traditional known Thanksgiving) of Corn, Onions and Lima Beans and a few other ingredients. According to one of my Archeology (Ethnobotany) books the recipe had Venison, Suet, Turnips, the Onions, Beans, Squash and Corn. Everything was cooked and then made into a paste. The corn was added (cooked) and it was served. The Pilgrims named it Succotash to honor the man who had helped them the most. I don't have a recipe for this one though.

Have fun.

Stargazer

You can overcook beans? Don't tell my wife. Of course it's all about your personal taste and preference. Just remember refried beans are nothing more than pinto beans (we call them soup beans here) cooked previously that are mushed and refried. So even if the beans are a little overcooked (i.e. too mushy) you still have a filling meal.
We didn't get to try the chili beans recipe I mentioned before. Son had a ball game last night so not enough time. My wife did remind me of another of her recipes with beans though (along the lines of refried beans). No rice but you gotta try this. Fry some breakfast sausage; when it is done break it apart in the pan and add some scrambled eggs; cook until eggs are done; add some of your left over pinto beans (sorry my wife doesn't measure, she adds "about that much" to everything - with this concoction add about what you would eat as a serving times however many people are eating), mix it all together and continue stirring until the beans are warmed over to your liking. If it looks like dog food when it is done, you did it right, but man it is good (maybe I'm part hound dog). The best part, if there's no left over pinto beans we keep a stash of Luck's brand canned pinto beans on hand. Almost as good as homemade and does the trick every time. Sorry to stray from the topic (not by much) but had to share.