Savory Bean and Basmati Rice Stew

How are you all doing staying inside? Are you cooking and baking more often? Are you finding it difficult to find certain ingredients? I have not been able to find tofu because it sells out so quickly. I put some in my cart, if I can even find it, and then it disappears. Which I suppose is good news for the plant-based movement since everyone is rushing to buy tofu! Beans it is...this whole shelter-in-place, it's all I can seem to keep in my cart and they are great to buy in bulk.

I ordered chickpeas and lentils-my favorite beans ever, and I soak them overnight and cook them the next day. I usually make enough for a few servings so I'm not constantly cooking beans over and over again. I also put some rice in my rice cooker-my favorite long grain brown basmati! It's so so incredible and filling and tasty.

If you already have a big batch of rice and beans made, you can cut this recipe prep time in half. But this is a nice, longer recipe that you can lose yourself in especially if you love to cook.

1/4 cup of cooked lentils
1/4  cup of cooked chickpeas
3/4 cup of cooked rice
1-2 cloves of fresh garlic
1/4 of a sweet onion
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 cup of mixed greens
1 tbsp of turmeric
2 tsp of coriander
Sea salt and pepper

The night before you want to make this recipe, SOAK the beans! Place them in two separate dishes, fill with warm water and let sit. Drain the next morning, rinse the beans, place the soaked beans in a pot and cover the beans in plenty of water. Bring the water to boil then lower the heat, place a lid on the pot and let simmer until beans are soft.

Quicker way: boil the beans in water for about 30 minutes, drain the water and rinse the beans. Then fill the pot back up with water and boil then simmer until beans are soft.

Rice: 1 serving of rice is 1/4 cup of dry rice yielding 3/4 cups of cooked rice. Place rice in a small pan with 1 tbsp of vegan butter and heat. Stir the rice around the pan with the butter and let toast. Add some garlic as well. Heat until the rice is a little brown and toasted. Fill the pot with 3/4 cup of water and boil. Cover and let simmer until the water is almost gone then turn the heat off. The rest of the water will evaporate as the rice is still hot. Using a rice cooker? Use the same amounts of rice and water and follow the directions on your rice cooker.

Place your cooked beans in a container; let the rice chill in the pan after cooking. The amount of beans you prepare for this dish depends on how many people are eating the dish and how much leftover stew you want. But if you cooked 1 serving of rice, measure out 1/4 cup of lentils and 1/4 cup of chickpeas. Get out a flat pan (I have a copper pan, I also love my cast iron pan) and put 1 tbsp of olive oil, the onion and chopped garlic in the pan and heat slowly. Add the cooked beans and greens and mix. Add some turmeric, coriander, sea salt and pepper and mix. Pour a little bit of water in the pan and continue cooking. Add in the rice and mix. Serve and place any leftovers in a airtight container.

It's ok if your stew is a little watery; the water will take on the taste of the spices. I heated the stew until most of the water was absorbed. Enjoy!!