VeganMoFo Day 6: Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

I'm Puerto Rican, so I'm sure my mom would disown me if I didn't include Puerto Rican style beans with rice in my blog. This is pretty much what I grew up on. I posted about the this a couple of years ago here, but it bears repeating. Now, I'm sure every family has a different way of making it, but this is the way my family does it.

Puerto Rican Style Beans 
1 15-oz can or 1 1/2 cups pink beans
1 Tbsp Recaito (scroll to the bottom of my original post for more info)
4 oz tomato sauce
1 packet sazón (see note below)
handful of pimento-stuffed green olives (optional)
pinch of oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the recaito with the tomato sauce for 2 or 3 minutes. Add beans, olives, oregano, salt and pepper and enough water to cover the beans. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally until the liquid reduces a bit and everything is hot and the flavors are well combined. Serve over rice.

i can has?

There's another way Puerto Ricans love to eat rice and beans: mixed together and cooked in the same pot so that the rice is yellow. This version often has pieces of pork in it, but it's equally as delicious without . 

Yellow Rice with Beans
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp Recaito (see the post I linked to above)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 packet sazón (see note below)
a few pinches of salt and pepper
a handful of olives or diced bell pepper (optional)
1 (15-oz) can red beans, drained
2 cups rice

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and recaito over medium-high heat. Add tomato sauce and sazon, salt, pepper, and olives and cook for a minute. Mix in the beans and rice. Add enough water so that it's about 1 inch above the rice. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for 30 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is cooked. The beans will have floated to the top, so just mix them in before serving.

Note: Sazon is found in most supermarkets, with the spanish foods. It's usued mostly for color but it has other spices too. It does have MSG, so if you avoid foods with MSG, you can make your own blend of salt, garlic, cumin, coriander, and saffron. Or just leave it out completely.