Ingredients
- 1 c. brown rice
- 2 c. chicken broth (1 can plus a little water makes 2 cups)
- 1 chopped onion
- 1–2 stalks chopped celery
- can of black, kidney or other beans (or 1 1/2 cups cooked dry beans)
- salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase) and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Saute onion and celery in a little water, oil or butter 5 minutes until limp.
- Add chicken broth and rice, salt and pepper; bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer 45 minutes until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.
- Drain and rinse beans.
- Add and heat through.
Notes
Freezes fine in single serving sizes.
Timesaver: If you have chopped celery and onion in your freezer, this is just as quick as the boxed stuff!
Cost: $1 with homemade chicken stock; $1.50-2 if using canned (but it makes a MUCH bigger batch than the little boxes of Rice-a-Roni, and the nutrition is far superior because you’re using brown rice and healthy fats, plus no MSGs.)
Super foods: 1 + 2 honorable mentions
*Props are due to Martha, our local Pampered Chef guru, for the recipe idea!
Healthy Upgrade:
Soak brown rice in one cup water plus 1 Tbs. whey or lemon juice for 7-12 hours or overnight. Add 1 1/2 cups chicken broth when it’s time to cook. (Why soak grains? A very short explanation here.)
Variations:
You can use just about any bean in this recipe, switch out the celery for sweet peppers, and add spices or spicy peppers to zoop it up a little!
I tried garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and subbed fresh yellow peppers for the celery. I think I liked it better than the original!