Thursday, August 27, 2009

More Beans n' Rice: Gallo Pinto

We plowed through the Lovely Lentils and Brown Rice, so there's not enough for our power lunch tomorrow. Having spent 2 weeks in Nicaragua long long ago, I have fond memories of my favorite part of nearly every meal, gallo pinto. Apparently also popular in Costa Rica, where it's made with black beans instead of red, gallo pinto is like the national dish (I guess Costa Ricans like it with a fried egg). And it's usually totally vegetarian, despite the fact that it's named after a chicken (it means speckled rooster-- because of how it looks). So tonight I made up a big batch of this and can't wait until I can eat it tomorrow!!!
Gallo Pinto

1 c. uncooked rice
1/2 c. onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 ts. cumin
1 ts. coriander
1/2 ts. ground ginger
Saute these together in 2 Tb. veg oil until the rice is translucent. Then add 2 c. water, cover, and simmer until rice is cooked.

At this point, I dumped the rice into a big bowl, heated 1 Tb. veg oil and sauteed some diced hot/sweet pepper
*among the recipes I found, this was a bit vague, so I ended up using 1/2 a serrano diced finely for heat and about 1/2 a green bell pepper for flavor)
then I dumped the rice back in and added 2 c. cooked black or red beans and 2 Tb. vegetarian worcestershire sauce (this approximates some kind of sauce that can only be found in Nicaragua or Costa Rica). Heat through and finish with 2 stalks of green onion finely chopped and 1/4 c. chopped cilantro.

I'm gonna garnish it with some sliced avocado. I can't wait.

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