Jake's Lazy Rice & Beans

Rice:

- 1/2 tsp. turmeric
- 1 tsp. olive oil

Just make your rice as normal but add the turmeric and olive oil before you boil the water. I don't even mix it up with the water, just toss it in and turn it on.


Beans:

- 1 onion
- 3 to 5 garlic cloves (I like to go crazy with the garlic)
- 1 to 2 tbsp. coriander
- 1 tbsp. ancho powder (you could probably use any other chili powder in place of this; ancho doesn't have heat but adds flavour so if you use something else, you'll probably want to use less)
- 1/2 tsp. cumin (if you like cumin add more; I don't like a lot of cumin taste so I use just enough to be noticeable)
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp. hot sauce
- 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 c. red wine (optional but works wonders)
- 1 diced piece of bacon (optional, I almost never have this on hand)
- 1 large can of kidney beans
- plain yogurt to garnish (optional)
- cilantro to garnish (optional)

Cook this all on lowish heat (2 or 3 on the stove) in an oiled deep pan or enamel pot, starting with the onions (and bacon if it's there), then garlic, and when those two things are nicely sauteed I add in all of the spices and let them simmer for just a minute or so. Then dump in half-drained beans if not using wine, otherwise just fully drain them and add the wine as well. Gotta have some liquid in there, so even stock would be fine. Then throw the hot sauce and vinegar in. Let it cook until the rice is done. For me this is about 35 minutes, you could cook it longer and it would probably get better. Throw some plain yogurt on top at the end if you have it. The extra ingredients take this to another level but it's still really good if you have nothing and just end up using rice, beans, and spices/liquids (which is how I make it 80% of the time).