I got sunlight for my birthday!
I guess Jason got tired of hearing me complain about how there’s not enough sunlight hours during the day for taking blog pictures. He made me a softbox and surprised me with it on my bday! He knows me so well. Best present ever.
I still have to learn how to use the thing properly, but that will come in good time. For now I’m just so excited that I can actually share a dinner recipe with you without the pictures being total crap! Tonight we had Jamaican food for dinner, and that includes one of our favorite dishes ever…coconut rice and peas!!!
It’s a delicious Carribean dish that uses coconut milk as part of the cooking liquid for the rice and peas. The result is creamy but not too heavy and it’s so good that I could eat just a bowl full of it for dinner!
Coconut Rice and Peas
by
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Keywords: side vegan vegetarian beans rice Caribbean
Ingredients (serves 12)
- 2 1/2 c. water
- 1 can full fat coconut milk (13 oz.)
- 2 1/2 c. long grain rice
- 1 can pigeon peas
- 1 medium onion
- 2 green onions
- 3 t. salt (or to taste)
- 1 t. pepper
- 2 t. garlic powder
- 2 t. onion powder
Instructions
In a medium sized pot, heat the water and coconut milk over medium high heat until it boils.
While waiting for the liquid to boil, heat 2 T. olive oil in a large skillet.
Chop the onion and green onion and sautee in the olive oil until the onion just starts to brown.
Add the rice to the skillet with the onions and sautee for about 5 minutes, of until most of the rice is translucent.
Season the rice mixture with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, then put all of the rice mixture into the boiling liquid.
Stir the pot and wait for it to return to a boil. When it does, lower the heat to low and cover the pot.
Let the mixture cook undisturbed until the rice is tender, about 40 minutes (check it after 30 and stir gently if necessary).
Turn off heat and serve hot.
I love that the dish is full of healthy fats! And it tastes so right. We had ours alongside some oxtails with gravy and roasted brussels sprouts. It was a great balance of flavors!
Due to some unforseen circumstances, I no longer have class on Fridays this semester! Which means I get another few months of three day weekends! Such a wonderful miracle. It changes my whole attitutde to know that my weekend has an extra day. I’m using that extra time tomorrow to bring you another great recipe for V-day! Hint: it’s a cupcake. 😀
Thanks for reading!
-Lauren
2 Responses
Darlene
Jason gave you a very nice and well thought out birthday present.Your pictures before were far from “crap”, but I definitely like the improvement. I went to Jamaica last summer and really enjoyed the food. I am going shopping now to prepare this meal for dinner tonight. Looks very delicious!
Sarah @ The Smart Kitchen
I remember loving the food in Jamaica when I went there a number of years ago…thanks for the reminder to try and investigate some of those flavors for new recipes!
PS- I was slightly distracted, however, by those GORGEOUS sprouts. 🙂