It’s Bean Awhile

The universal love for approachable eats and dispelling dietary disparities.

Hello dear supporters. Like we said in yesterday’s general newsletter, this is that time of year is when people publicly adopt a new idiosyncrasy: the first of many stages of a virtuous personal rebranding. Yup, everyone you know has decided to crash diet, intermittent fast or suddenly go vegan overnight. While we welcome any new converts to the dark side, we’ve always hated Veganuary. 

Eating vegan isn’t some kinda social media challenge and we’ve always believed dumb shit like that drives away anyone who just wants to dip their toes in, eat more veggies, and not feel judged. A hundred people eating vegan for a couple nights a week has a bigger impact than one person committing to go fully vegan. Let’s not allow perfection to be the enemy of good here. It just makes more sense for the environment and for the animals. So, IF YOU ARE trying to dip your toes in the plant-based pool, we support the fuck out of you. Just trying to eat more veggies? Awesome. Whatever got you here is good by us. And lucky for you, we ‘re starting a new series just for everyone trying to cook more at home, save some cash, and eat more plants. 

joe @jxeker

hashtag veganuary

People love to rip  on vegans and considering the source material, it’s usually an easy dunk. But the talking points meant to dismiss plant-based eating are equal parts lazy and wrong. Two of the most common things we hear about a plant-based diet are 1. that it’s expensive and 2. people don’t understand what we “can” eat. We have a simple answer for both. Over the next couple weeks here in The Broiler Room we’re gonna be celebrating a pair beloved the world over and a dinner staple since the dawn of time: Beans and Rice.

basically porn

Each week we’ll be sharing a recipe for a different take on beans and rice right here in your inbox. These dishes are easy, affordable, versatile, and universally goddamn delicious. Eating vegan doesn’t need to involve countless, expensive faux ingredients or highly processed foods. Beans and rice, in one shape or another, are a signature meal in countless countries, communities, and kitchens. But for some reason here in the US only 7.9% of us are eating ANY beans on ANY given day. That’s gotta change. Vegan or not, your belly needs more beans.

BEANS: the original skittles

For the purposes of this series, let’s get technical for a minute. We’re gonna be talking about beans and many other legumes in the same breath. A legume is the fruit or seed of a plant in the Fabaceae (or Leguminosae) plant family. Well-known legumes include beans, peas, peanuts, chickpeas, soybeans, and lentils. They’re also called pulses sometimes. No matter the name, you know a bean when you see one. Have some faith in your ape-like instincts. Beans also pack a nutritional punch. Diets rich in legumes have been associated with improved gastrointestinal health, weight management, reduced risk of certain types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes. They’re also a significant source of many nutrients like folate, iron, magnesium, potassium and of course, protein. Basically, beans truly are magical. Mix them with some rice and you just made something good even greater.

So let’s get our Beans and Rice series started right with a classic: Our Coconut Lime Rice with Red Beans and Mango, which first appeared in our original book Bad Manners: Eat Like You Give A Fuck. It’s one pot meal with a surprising amount of flavor that’s ready as quick as it takes for you to cook a pot of rice. We know it’s the dead of winter right now, so fresh mango might be tricky to find BUT we’ve done this dish with defrosted frozen mango and it works great. It’s a staple in our kitchens and it’s about to become a staple in yours.

Coconut Lime Rice with Red Beans and Mango

Serves 4

2 teaspoons of a neutral tasting oil

1 cup diced shallots or sweet onions*

1 ½ tablespoons diced ginger

2 cups short grain brown rice

1 cup canned coconut milk

2 ½ cups vegetable broth

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper**

1 ½ cups cooked red beans***

zest and juice from 1 lime

1 fresh mango

Rinse the rice under some cool water. Warm up the oil over a medium heat in a large stockpot. Add the shallots and sauté until they start to brown in some spots, about 5-7 minutes. Add the ginger and sauté for 30 seconds until everything smells good as fuck Add the rice and keep stirring until the rice is starting to smell slightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk, broth, salt, and cayenne pepper and bring to a simmer. Once the pot is simmering, give it a quick stir, cover it, and lower the heat to low. The pot should be at a very gentle simmer so you can leave it the fuck alone. Cook it like this for about 40 minutes or until the rice absorbs almost all the liquid and it’s tender. If your rice isn’t done cooking by the time you run out of liquid don’t stress that shit, just add a little more broth or water.

While the rice is cooking, chop up the mango into bite-sized pieces. You should get around a cup and a half of flesh from 1 mango. Using a box grater or microplane, zest the lime into a small bowl. When is the rice is tender, fold in beans, lime zest, lime juice, and mango. Let this all cook together for another minute or two so that everything is warmed up. Serve warm topped with cilantro or green onions.

* That’s about 4 shallots or half a small onion.

** Leave this shit out if you can’t stand the heat.

*** Or 2 15 ounce cans. Also, you can use black beans or kidney here if you can’t find red beans.

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Thanks again for joining us here in The Broiler Room. We’d be lying if we didn’t say we’d missed you guys while we were away. Same time next week?  

Michelle and Matt