Moros y Cristiano (Cuban Rice and Beans)

This is a delicious dish of rice and beans, very similar to the famous Jamaican rice and peas.

Recipe Breakdown

To get started im going back in time to yesterday when I soaked 1/2 a cup of dried black beans in 3 cups of water and left them overnight.

You can of course use canned precooked beans, and I’ll leave the recipe adjustments for this down in the description.

So, our recipe structure is the same 1:2 ratio of rice and liquid.

For the aromatics, we have a quarter of an onion finely diced, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 of a teaspoon of ground cumin, 1/4 of a teaspoon of dried oregano and a bay leaf.

Im also putting the beans in this category as they are giving a flavour to the dish in a few ways, more about this in a minute.

Method

The beans have had their overnight soaking, I’m adding a bay leaf in and placing them onto cook in the water they have been soaking in.

Once the pan is boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer and leave them to cook for around 30 minutes.

Half an hour later the beans are soft but without being mushy, strain them off crucially saving the cooking liquid, this is what we’re going cook the rice in, so please don’t pour it down the drain!

Next place a saucepan over a medium heat add a splash of oil, and the diced white onion with a little pinch of salt, saute that for a few minutes until translucent then add the minced garlic and cook for another minute whilst stirring.

Now add the ground cumin and the dried oregano, saute the spices for 30 seconds and add the washed and drained rice.

Gently stir everything together so the rice is coated in all that flavour, then add the black beans and 2 cups of the cooking liquid we saved from earlier.

Season with a little salt, stir everything together and place a lid on and simmer for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes check it, most of the liquid should be gone, check the base of the pan to make sure its not catching this can happen more easily using stainless steel pans rather than non-stick, lid back on and cook for 5 more minutes.

Then heat off and leave to sit for another 5. The usual routine.

To make this more of a last-minute everyday recipe, like i mentioned before you can use precooked canned beans just drain, them keep the liquid and top it up to the amount you need with water. Then follow the recipe as normal.

Yield: 4 portions

Moros y Cristiano (Cuban Rice and Beans)

Print

This is a simple but tasty recipe from Cuba, it uses onion, garlic, cumin and oregano to give the recipe a truly unique flavour.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups of water
• 1/2 cup dried black beans (can of precooked beans)
• 1 cup rice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 of a large white onion finely diced
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• Oil
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. If you’re using dried beans soak them in 3 cups of water the night before (or a minimum of 4 hours) you want to cook them.
2. The next day place the beans onto cook for around 30 minutes with one bay leaf added to the water.
3. When they’re cooked but not mushy, strain them keeping the cooking liquid.
4. Wash the rice until the water runs almost clear, then strain it and be sure to get as much excess water off as possible.
5. In a pot add the olive oil and sauté the onion until transparent, then add the garlic and fry for another minute.
6. Then add the cumin and oregano and fry for 1 more minute.
7. Then add the rice, the cooked beans and stir everything together.
8. Add 2 cups of cooking water from the beans, season with salt and bring to a boil.
9. Lower the heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked.