Caribbean Coconut Rice and Peas
This recipe is based on a traditional Caribbean favourite that is often made with red kidney beans, which are called peas in Jamaica ‘ hence the name of the dish. Red pepper has been added for extra vegetable content and a small amount of lean bacon lifts the flavour.
Image: Thinkstock
| Servings |
| 4servings |
| Servings |
| 4servings |
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 3 slices back bacon trimmed and diced
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1 large red pepper deseeded and thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 red or green chili pepper deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups long-grain rice rinsed
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 398ml can reduced-fat coconut milk
- 1 398ml can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tomatoes diced
- Tabasco (optional), to serve
Servings: servings
Units:
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Ingredients
Servings: servings
Units:
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Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot or deep frying pan, add the bacon and cook over a gentle heat for 2 minutes until lightly browned. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until softened. Reduce the heat and stir in the pepper, garlic and chili pepper and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the rice, then pour in the boiling water and coconut milk and add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Add the drained beans and thyme, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes to the pan and continue to cook gently for a further 10 minutes until the rice is just tender. (The mixture should still be a little sloppy.) Remove the sprigs of thyme and serve with Tabasco to sprinkle over the top, if you like.
Recipe Notes
Variations: Instead of using bacon, just cook the onion in the oil, then add some cooked meat, such as shredded chicken or pork, to the finished dish before serving. For a vegetarian meal, simply leave out the bacon.
25 g protein, 10.5 g fat of which 3 g saturates, 75 g carbohydrate, 7 g fibre, 372 Calories
