Brisket – If you have leftover brisket, this is an excellent way to use it up! Beef brisket complements red beans and rice particularly well. Whether you serve it as a side dish or re-cook it with the beans, it will satisfy your palate. Pair the meal with collard greens, coleslaw, or corn on the cob to balance out the intensely savory flavors.
How can I improve the flavor of my beans?
Seasoning Dried Beans – Dried beans cooked with sea salt and water are delicious, but adding an onion, garlic, or other aromatics will enhance their flavor even further! These simple additions transform the starchy bean cooking liquid into a fragrant broth that is equally as delicious as the beans.
Here are several of my preferred aromatics: A strip of kombu is optional, but it improves the digestibility of the beans. Leeks and garlic: Onion quarters, shallot halves, or crushed garlic cloves A sprig of fresh rosemary or thyme, or the leaves or stems of sage, parsley, or cilantro. I frequently add frozen herbs to homemade beans.
Spices: Black peppercorns, black pepper that has been freshly ground, bay leaves, or dried chilies. Vegetable scraps, including onion ends, fennel fronds, scallion greens, and celery leaves! I store these scraps in the freezer to cook beans or make homemade vegetable stock.
In the right combination and preparation, they are relatively healthy, but that is not the whole story. Rice and beans have a long history together, with their origins spanning the globe from West Africa to Brazil. Richard Wilk, a cultural anthropologist at Indiana University and co-author of the forthcoming book Rice and Beans: A Unique Dish in a Hundred Places, says that the dish “was probably invented multiple times because it makes sense to combine them.” Their migration to the Americas was likely facilitated by West African slaves brought to the continent.
“However, rice was expensive until the 18th century,” Wilk explains, “so it did not become a type of inexpensive staple food for the poor until the 20th century.” Of course, rice and beans are now a staple in many parts of the world, but the combination may not be as healthy as it could be due to rising global food prices.
Because beans are typically more expensive than rice. According to Hannia Campos, a nutrition professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, the poor tend to increase their rice consumption while decreasing their bean intake. “The trend is to degrade the fundamental meal,” she explains.
- This is undesirable because beans are the more nutritious option.
- Campos and her colleagues discovered that increasing the ratio of beans to rice may reduce cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors.
- After all, beans are a food with a low glycemic index that makes people feel full, so they consume less of other foods.
Additionally, beans are rich in fiber, potassium, folate, iron, manganese, and magnesium, and they contain no cholesterol or fat. It is a superfood. Another nutritional concern is the rice itself, which is typically white, polished rice. The processing that transforms brown rice into white rice eliminates the bran and germ layers, as well as a significant amount of healthy fats, iron, magnesium, and vitamins B1 and B2.
- What’s left is a starchy grain with a high glycemic index, which means that it raises a person’s blood sugar level and does not satisfy them for long.
- In fact, a recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that white rice consumption is associated with an increased risk of Type II diabetes, and diabetes rates are rising globally.
Campos suggests that brown rice would be a better option. Still, if you have nothing else, rice and beans are a decent option. However, “you will not have a complete diet,” she says. The combination is deficient in Vitamin C and other vital nutrients. “It is crucial that you consume meat and vegetables,” says Campos. 
Should you combine rice and meat?
You can eat rice or bread with less than 50 grams of meat or 100 to 120 grams of meat with rice or bread. Nutrition is not a precise science; everything depends on eating habits. Any excess nutrients or foods can be toxic.