For several years, Moosewood’s Nancy Lazarus has enjoyed working with the Coalition for Healthy School Food’s Cool School Food project in the Ithaca City School District with Executive Director Amie Hamlin to develop plant-based dishes to serve in the cafeterias. Nancy developed this Haitian rice and beans recipe for home cooking, based on a popular dish created for the New York City Cool School Food program by chefs Angel Ramos, Jorge Pineda, and Joy Pierson of Candle Café. In the schools, it’s called Black Bean and Rice Casserole, a favorite of students and cooks alike. Clearly, school lunch has gotten a lot better!
The rice and beans are mildly flavored with cumin and fresh ginger, and somewhat sweet with ripe plantains cooked in. Toppings make this dish really delicious. Fresh Pineapple-Mango Relish will add sweetness and tang—a refreshing, fruity, and not-too-spicy choice. If you like a little heat, make zesty Sos Ti-Malice, a traditional Haitian tomato-onion hot sauce. Fastest of all would be to simply top it with salsa or chopped tomatoes and scallions and wedges of lime.
Yields 8 cups
Serves 6 to 8
Time: about 50 minutes
1 cup uncooked short-grain brown rice
3½ cups water
1½ cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4½ cups drained cooked black beans, pintos, or small red beans*
2 ripe plantains, peeled and cut into pieces about the size of black beans
*Cook dried beans or use canned: Three (15-ounce) cans = 4½ cups drained beans; 1 pound dried beans makes 6 to 7 cups drained cooked beans.
Bring the rice and 2½ cups of the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until done. Most brown rice takes about 40 minutes.
While the rice cooks, in a soup pot on low heat, cook the onions, garlic, and salt in the oil, covered, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. When the onions are very soft, increase the heat to medium, add the cumin, ginger, and black pepper and cook, stirring, for a minute or so. Stir in the beans, plantains, and remaining 1 cup water. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for at least 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. If it starts to stick, add a little more water. The plantains will soften but remain little nuggets of flavor.
Stir the cooked rice into the beans.
You can serve this as soon as it is done, but if you turn off the heat and let the rice and beans sit, covered, for 15 minutes, the flavors will intensify.
Serve with toppings (see headnote) and lime wedges.
You could begin a meal of Haitian Rice and Beans with little cups of Chilled Pineapple-Mango Soup or serve Winter Chopped Salad, which is colorful with radicchio, avocado, and pomegranate seeds, alongside. A platter of melon wedges is a stellar dessert.