beans and rice

Apparently this is a healthy combination. Complete compliment of amino acids to protein, or summat, frankly I don't care. I can't get all into protein quality of plant VS animal sources. That's because mine has it all; three bean types, brown rice, and sausage that I made from various meats.

Scrounge, that's what I do. Scrounge for things that appeal at the moment of scrounging.

* 1/2 cup dry black-eye peas that come in a plastic bag.

* 1/2 cup black beans that come in a plastic bag.

* 1/2 cup pinto beans that come in a plastic bag.

These beans are approximately the same size except the pinto beans which are slightly larger.

* 1+1/2 cup brown rice scooped from the bulk bins at a nearby Whole Foods.

* 2 cups tap water. Could have used more.

These four elements were dumped dry without soaking into a pressure cooker along with my favorite spices. I scanned the spice cabinet, two spice cabinets actually, and pulled out the things I thought would taste good.

* 1 teaspoon corriander

* 1/2 teaspoon coarse Brittany sea salt

* six complete grinds of black pepper (from a Turkish coffee grinder that dumps pepper like you wouldn't believe.)

* 1/4 teaspoon of my own mixed dried chile peppers.

* 2 small bay leaves.

The sausage patties were broken up and fried separately. The oil released was added to the bean, but the meat was reserved.

Cooked on low pressure (the first of two notches) for 40 minutes. All the water was absorbed. There was no liquid remaining. The pinto beans were still firm. The resulting texture of the rice and beans combined was firm and sturdy. These are not at all like canned baked beans. You might prefer them softer. The cooked sausage was added to the cooked beans and rice.

But it's missing something. Could use more fat. Bacon fat, butter, olive oil, lard, anything. It could also use more liquid. It needs a sauce. Therefore, I removed a few tablespoons of beans and rice, picked out the sausages, and blended with chicken broth and butter. The result was a thick sauce that would work well as bean dip. It could have been thinner.