Rice and beans have the kind of relationship most of us can only hope for. They’re so stable and complimentary to each other. They provide comfort to countless people and inspire love poems. If you wanna get sciency about it, rice and beans are the perfect couple because together, they have the right proportions of the 9 essential amino acids that make up a complete protein. They might not be terribly sexy, but there’s no denying that their relationship is rock solid. In honor of the happy couple, here’s a recipe for hot days when you just can not think about cooking.
Rice and Black Bean Succotash
Ingredients
| Black beans | 1 can |
| Corn | 1 cup |
| Tomatoes | 2 |
| Red onion | 1/4 |
| Olive oil | 1/4 cup |
| Balsamic vinegar | 1/4 cup |
| Salt and pepper | |
| Rice | |
| Cilantro | |
| Lime |
Instructions
- Put the biggest pasta strainer you own (what do you mean you only have one?) in the sink and pour the black beans into it.
- Shuck the corn and then slice the kernels off the cob using a serrated knife. I think the easiest way to do this is to lay the cob flat and cut horizontally so that the kernels don’t go flying everywhere. I say this having found corn kernels in tiny crevices in my kitchen (hello, toaster) weeks after making this stuff.
- Bring an inch or so of water to a boil and blanch the corn for 1 minute. (You may think that Blanche is just the name of the woman on the Golden Girls, but it’s not. It’s really a fancy word for “cook for just a hot second.”) Pour it into the strainer along with the beans and then immediately run ice cold water over it to stop it from cooking.
- Slice the tomatoes and onion into small pieces and throw them in with the corn and beans.
- Transfer everything from the strainer into a bowl, pour on the oil and vinegar and then season everything with salt and pepper.
- Make rice, add cilantro, and squeeze the lime over it. Alternatively, you can do what I did and go to Chipotle and order a side of rice for 90¢. I do this a lot when I bring this to work because I can keep the bean fandango cold in the fridge during the morning and then get fresh, hot rice from Chipotle at lunch. If you’re as lucky as I am, the people at Chipotle will think you’re cute and funny and not crazy for ordering a side of rice every day for 2 weeks. I’m not kidding you guys; a girl who worked there proposed to me on day 7 of rice and beans.
Mamoot 