rice and beans

Summary: This post is about two variations of rice and beans. These dishes are fantastic as a healthy evening meal for athletes or for fitness enthusiasts. We use organic, brown and black rice and beautiful vegetables. Easy to make, yummy to eat!

Beans and rice a quick dinner for athletes

Maintaining a healthy food routine is time consuming and not always easy to manage with family, work, sport, and life. I’ve decided to share my two, easy-to-make, healthy and nutritious rice recipes. Living in Asia comes with a benefit of having a rice cooker at home, but even without one, these dishes are a good fit for anyone wanting a tasty, home-cooked meal quickly. You can even cook the rice in the morning while you are getting ready for work, and put together the dish when you return home, in the evening.

Health benefits of beans and rice

  • Beans are an affordable superfood. Not only full of antioxidants, protein, and fiber, but also contain lots of potassium, iron, and zinc. Regularly having beans in your diet helps to avoid diabetes, colon cancer, and heart disease.
  • Lentils are a rich source of protein and dietary fiber; a great meat replacement for vegetarians, but combined with meat, lentils are a delicious addition too.
  • I use in my dishes brown and black rice because oppose to white rice, these versions are much healthier. Brown and black rice are high is magnesium, can be included in a gluten-free diet, and a great source of energy. Regular consumption helps to avoid heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. It has anti-inflammatory properties and can be included in a weight-loss focused diet too.

Rice and beans with cilantro shrimp

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 25-30
Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 smaller streaks of bacon, cut into small pieces
  • 4-6 shrimps peeled and washed
  • 1/2 cup of chicken breast chopped into small pieces
  • 1 cup of button mushrooms, cut into quarters
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions:

  1. Cook 2 cups of rice in 5
  2. Heat the pan and add the bacon, red onion, pepper, mushroom, and garlic. Sauté them together until the bacon loses the fat and the onion looks brown and glassy (not burned!). Remove the excess fat if necessary, it all depends on how lean (or not) the bacon is.
  3. If you are using canned beans, rinse the beans under cold water and drain. When using fresh beans, cook them for 10 minutes in water, and then remove the water and add fresh water with a pinch of salt, and cook until the beans soften. Add your beans to the onion mixture and combine.
  4. Pee the shrimps and wash them under cold, running water.
  5. Add shrimps and chicken to the vegetable mixture and fry the shrimp for a few minutes until it turns white-golden color.
  6. Add red beans and combine well together.
  7. Fold in the rice and add a dash of soy sauce.
  8. Decorate with chopped cilantro.

 

rice and beans

Vegetarian rice and beans

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 25-30min
Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil
  • 4-6 shrimps peeled and washed
  • 1 cup of lentils
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup of button mushrooms, cut into quarters
  • 1 stalk of celery cut into small pieces
  • Sliced chili pepper
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions:

  1. Cook 2 cup of rice in 4
  2. Heat the pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil, and brown the red onion, mushroom, celery, bell pepper, and garlic.
  3. Add your beans and lentils to the onion mixture and combine. If you are using fresh lentils, cook it in plenty of hot water, a dash of salt and a few bay leaves. If you are using canned lentils, add your bay leaves directly to the mixture.
  4. Fold in the rice and add a dash of soy sauce.
  5. Decorate with chopped chili and cilantro. If you like heat, add a few slices of chopped chili when adding the rice.

Cooking at home is not rocket science but especially for beginners in the kitchen, I find that smart planning helps to succeed. Making the actual food is one thing, but planing the dishes and completing the shopping is one crucial step not to overlook. If there isn’t fresh food in your fridge, you will much more likely to default to ordering in pizza or Chinese food. Cooking at home is not only more cost-effective, but also much-much healthier. I recommend taking time every week to sit for a half an hour, go through your week, plan your dinners, and write shopping lists accordingly. If you are a total beginner, not sure where to start, or would like some professional help to plan your meals, reach out to our Healthy Templars and we get you set up!

by Alain Buffing