Rice and Beans: simple and sustainable

A simple dish of rice and beans.

The details are: the beans are Peruano, soaked overnight, cooked with the ends of an onion and the ends of two carrots, plus two bay leaves, and about two teaspoons of salt.

The rice is long grain rice, tossed and heated in some olive oil, then cooked with water, and sprinkled with the juice of a fresh lime and cilantro.

The combination is delightful, especially with some added cumin, salt, and pepper.

All ingredients were bought in bulk or sans packaging, which is exactly what I want from every meal for the remainder of my life. Sadly, that is probably not going to happen.

My husband and I met up with his grandmother so she could see him for his birthday. We met at a Mexican restaurant + grocery store that has tasty food, but it seemed impossible to avoid the plastic cups the salsas came in, plus an unexpected plastic spoon in each of the bean dishes. It was disappointing and I found myself more stressed out about the waste and forcing myself to enjoy my meatless tacos.

I want to be able to ask for the things that are better for the environment, but I don’t want to appear that I am pushing my ideals and morals onto others; especially at a place that traditionally employs and serves an underrepresented and oftentimes disrespected minority population in my town.

So, I didn’t request anything special, except no meat on my tacos.

But this gave me resolve to make even more food at home, cook from ingredients that I know are less wasteful, do not torture animals, and give fair pay for fair work.

This long weekend has been a good representation of that desire. I have made ginger beer, sourdough bread, sourdough starter waffles, harissa white bean stew, lacto-fermented mustard, mayonnaise with my own hen’s egg, rice and beans, and I’m about to make sourdough crackers, tortillas, and feta. I have also sewn a bento bag, sewn up some bean bags from school that were broken, and am currently working on an apron to wear at school to hold all my important flash cards because my students cannot afford to never not be learning in this climate.

Peace and love,

Kristan

 

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Cumin Wild rice

Cook wild rice and set aside.

Fry up onion, garlic, and cumin seeds.

Add cooked chickpeas.

Add in cooked wild rice.

Chop up sweet peppers and add to pan.

In the last few minutes, toss in chopped spinach.

Salt and pepper as needed. I love salt!

To serve: sprinkle with sunflower seeds, cilantro, and lime.

Really, really good and so close to using only one pan, but unless you have leftover wild rice, it has to be two.

*I’m not a huge fan of exact measurements for dinner. Use up what you have. The peppers were left from a school snack, and I had wild rice still from Thanksgiving shopping.

Peace and love,

Kristan