The RANCHO GORDO EVERYDAY HOME COOK’S GUIDE TO RICE AND BEANS EASY AND DELICIOUS WAYS WITH EVERYONE’S FAVORITE COMPLETE PROTEIN PAIR RICE AND BEAN SALAD This is obviously more of a suggestion than a Rancho Gordo Vinaigrette In your salad bowl, make a paste with the salt and recipe. I never know what to do with leftover garlic. Add the mustard, oregano and vinegar. Mix 1 clove garlic, minced rice and if you’re using good brown rice, a salad well. Whisk in the olive oil slowly. is perfect. Adjust the bean and rice ratio to your 1 teaspoon salt Add the rest of the salad ingredients and gently liking but for me it’s about half and half. 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Oregano Indio combine. The red of the pepper looks great but use any 2 tablespoons Rancho Gordo Pineapple Vinegar salad vegetables you like. 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 cups cooked brown rice 2 cups cooked Rancho Gordo Santa Maria Pinquito beans, well drained 1/2 white onion, sliced very thin 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 1 stalk celery, diced 1 carrot, peeled and diced Salt to taste The RANCHO GORDO GUIDE TO RICE and BEANS. VISIT RANCHOGORDO.COM FOR MORE BEANS AND IDEAS. PUERTO RICAN HABICHUELAS Illyanna Maisonet is the creator of the blog 16 oz dried Rancho Gordo Ojo de Cabra, pinto or Rustle through the beans; you’re looking for pebbles EatGordaEat and the author of Gorda Eats: A Cranberry beans or shriveled looking beans to discard. Puerto Rican Cookbook Soak the beans in 3-4 qt. cold water, overnight. For the sofrito: She’s very much immersed in the Bay Area food To make sofrito: Combine tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, 4 cloves of garlic scene and I love reading about her adventures onion, bell pepper and jalapeño in a blender. Blitz 2 roma tomatoes with Puerto Rican food. It’s a neglected subject until it resembles a pesto. Pour into a storage 1 bunch of cilantro and she digs deep. container and set aside until you are ready to cook the 1 medium onion 1 green bell pepper beans. 1 jalapeño Drain beans and discard the bean soaking water. In a 2 cloves garlic, smashed large pot, cover beans in 3 qt of cold water with the 2 1 small onion, chopped smashed cloves of garlic and the small chopped onion 1 8oz can tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Bring down to med-low heat and 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, diced into quarters let beans simmer until just soft, 2 hours. 1 packet of Goya sazon con culantro y achiote Salt Keep an eye on the pot, ensuring it has just enough water that the bottom isn’t stuck to the pan. But, you do want the water to reduce significantly. Skim off and discard any scum. Measure out 2 tablespoons of sofrito. Add this and tomato sauce to beans and cook another 30 mins. Reserve the remaining sofrito for another use. Add potatoes, sazon and salt to taste. Cook another 30 mins. Note: You can freeze the extra sofrito in an ice cube tray (for up to 6 months) and use it in stir-fries, chilis and curries. The RANCHO GORDO GUIDE TO RICE and BEANS. VISIT RANCHOGORDO.COM FOR MORE BEANS AND IDEAS. GALLO PINTO If you’ve been to Costa Rica, it’s hard to imagine For the rice: 1. Prepare the rice by sauteing the vegetables in a large you not having tried Gallo Pinto. It’s delicious, 1/2 onion, diced pan, in the oil, until soft. Add the rice and saute for easy to make and you find it everywhere. 1 clove garlic, minced 2 minutes. Add 3 cups water and the salt. Bring to a 1/4 red bell pepper, seeded, washed and chopped boil, reduce the heat, cover and let cook on low until A branch of my family left California for Costa 1 tablespoon oil the water is absorbed. Rica in the 1970s so I have always felt ties to this 2 cups white rice, rinsed 2. Prepare the beans in a large pot by covering them beautiful country and this is the perfect nostalgia 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Sal de Mar sea salt dish. Add a fried egg and a bottle of Lizano sauce by about 2 inches of water (roughly 2 quarts) with to complete the picture. For the beans: the garlic, pepper and oregano and bringing them to a rapid boil for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat until The recipe may seem complicated but you 1 pound dried Rancho Gordo Midnight Black or the beans are gently simmering and continue cooking basically take rice, add some cooked beans in their Domingo Rojo beans, cleaned and rinsed until tender, about an hour and a half. Add salt. broth, and mix them up. The red bell pepper is 2 cloves garlic, minced used for cooking but it’s also added at the end for 1/4 red bell pepper, seeded, washed and chopped 3. When you’re ready to serve, normally, the next more texture and a different flavor. I prefer brown 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo Mexican Oregano morning, in a large frying pan, saute the onion in the rice but I don’t think this is very traditional. 3 teaspoons Rancho Gordo Sal de Mar sea salt oil and when soft, add the cooked rice and cook for 2 minutes. Add the red pepper and then the beans. Speaking of Lizano sauce, it’s a kind of creamy To finish the dish: Continue cooking for about five minutes. The rice Worcestershire sauce that you see in import 2 tablespoons oil should be “painted” by the bean broth. stores and Latin markets. It’s very unique and 1/2 onion, diced easy to like. You can add the smallest splash of 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded, washed and chopped Serve with Salsa Lizano (see note), cilantro, sour Worcestershire sauce (and I said smallest!) as a cream or any combination you like. substitution but a Costa Rican would frown upon Scrambled and fried eggs are a traditional it. accompaniment. In Costa Rica, one would use black beans in most cases. In neighboring Nicaragua, they would make the same dish using red beans, like our Domingo Rojo. The RANCHO GORDO GUIDE TO RICE and BEANS. VISIT RANCHOGORDO.COM FOR MORE BEANS AND IDEAS. CARIBBEAN RED BEANS AND RICE Ellen Kanner is the author of Feeding the 2 cups cooked Rancho Gordo Domingo Rojo beans In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Hungry Ghost: Life, Faith, and What to Eat 2½ cups cooked brown rice, cooled Add the onion and garlic, and sauté until softened, for Dinner – A Satisfying Diet for Unsatisfying 2 tablespoons olive oil about 5 minutes. Add the pepper, habañero, and Times (New World Library 2013) and you may 1 large onion, chopped celery, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, recognize her byline from the Huffington Post 3 garlic cloves, chopped for another 5 minutes. Stir in the diced tomato and and Miami Herald. She has generously adapted 1 green or red pepper, chopped season with the allspice and cumin. her Caribbean Pigeon Peas and Rice for our ¼ habañero (Scotch bonnet pepper) or 1 to 2 jala- luscious Domingo Rojo beans. peños, seeded and chopped, depending on how hot Add the cooked beans and rice, stirring until the you like it* mixture is well combined. Reduce the heat to medium I was just discussing Domingo Rojos with Eric, 2 celery stalks, chopped and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the our Customer Service expert, and he said it’s one 1 tomato, chopped (or 1 cup canned diced tomatoes, moisture from the vegetables is absorbed, about 10 of those beans that flies off the shelves when we drained) minutes. Add the thyme, cilantro, sea salt, and pepper. sample it here at Rancho Gordo. We always make 1 teaspoon allspice *(Wear gloves when handling fresh chiles, no matter our basic beans vegan with just a few aromatics ½ teaspoon cumin how manly you are. – Ellen) and a little olive oil. We think it tastes better and 1 small handful fresh thyme leaves, or ¼ teaspoon allows the glory of the beans to shine through. dried And it fits in nicely with Ellen’s master recipe. 1 small bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped Ellen notes, “The recipe can be made entirely in Sea salt and pepper to taste advance and reheated when you’re ready. Keeps covered and refrigerated for several days, and flavor improves over time.” The RANCHO GORDO GUIDE TO RICE and BEANS. VISIT RANCHOGORDO.COM FOR MORE BEANS AND IDEAS. MOROS Y CRISTIANOS I first discovered moros y cristianos in Charles H. 4 slices lean bacon, chopped In a large saucepan, gently cook the bacon over Baker’s seminal two-volume The Gentleman’s Olive oil, if needed medium low heat until the fat is rendered and the Companion, a work that defined my dreams. 1 white onion, diced bacon is cooked through, about 10 minutes. You Here was a boozy American touring the world 2 cloves garlic, smashed should have about 2 tablespoons fat. If there is less, and collecting adventures and recipes. He wasn’t 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced add oil as needed to total 2 tablespoons. Add the an erudite Noel Coward, and he wasn’t a sports- 1 teaspoon Rancho Gordo New Mexican Red Chile onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook gently, stirring loving buffoon.