Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

adapted from More with Less' Puerto Rican Rice and Pigeon Peas

Serves 8 (main dish servings)
Soaking time: 8 hours • Passive cooking time: 2 hours • Active cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 lb. dried pigeon peas, pinto, or kidney beans
4 cups water
3/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup fat
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups cabbage, finely chopped
1 tsp. oregano
1 tblsp. capers with juice
1 tblsp. salt
2 cups uncooked rice (I used short grain brown)
6 cups bean liquid and water


Steps:

1. Sort through the dry beans, rinse with cold water, and cover with an inch of water. Let soak for 8 hours until rehydrated. After rehydrating, drain and rinse the beans. Return to a large pot and cover with 4 cups water.

2. Bring to a boil, skim off foam, and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. At this point, beans should be quite tender. Drain beans and set aside, reserving the remaining bean liquid.

3. Saute vegetables in 1/4 cup fat (I used olive oil). When veggies are tender, add tomato paste, spices, rice, and liquid. Stir well.

4. Cook at moderate heat 15 minutes. Stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until most of liquid is absorbed and rice is fully cooked (approximately 25 minutes).

Notes: All I can say about this recipe is: DELICIOUS! This recipe makes a lot of food. We have been eating it for lunch and dinner for days and I'm still not sick of it. It's strange, because it's so similar to other recipes we've made, but this one really is the best. I highly recommend it!