SHOPPING LIST: Cooking Skills: Rice 2, Chapter 7 (Rice with Beans and Lentils)

Mostly store-cupboard items. Specialist: scotch bonnet and allspice (large supermarket or Caribbean grocer; a mild red chilli and mixed spice are fair substitutes), black beans, passata.

Rice and peas (2 portions)
[ ] 150 g long-grain white rice
[ ] 400 g tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
[ ] 200 ml light coconut milk
[ ] 130 ml water
[ ] 2 spring onions, bruised with the flat of a knife
[ ] 2 thyme sprigs
[ ] 1 garlic clove, crushed
[ ] ¼ tsp ground allspice
[ ] 1 whole scotch bonnet or mild chilli (optional, do not burst)
[ ] ½ tsp salt

Mujaddara (2 portions)
[ ] 100 g green or brown lentils
[ ] 100 g long-grain rice
[ ] 450 ml water
[ ] 1 tsp ground cumin
[ ] ½ tsp salt
[ ] 2 large onions (about 300 g), thinly sliced
[ ] 2 tbsp oil
[ ] 3 tbsp natural yoghurt, to serve

Mexican-style red rice (2 portions)
[ ] 150 g long-grain white rice
[ ] 1 tbsp oil
[ ] ½ small onion, finely chopped
[ ] 1 garlic clove, crushed
[ ] ½ tsp ground cumin
[ ] 200 ml tomato passata
[ ] 150 ml hot reduced-salt stock
[ ] 80 g frozen peas and diced carrot

Cuban-style black beans and rice (2 portions)
[ ] 1 tin black beans (400 g), with their liquid
[ ] 1 tsp oil
[ ] 1 small onion, finely chopped
[ ] ½ green pepper, finely chopped
[ ] 2 garlic cloves, crushed
[ ] 1 tsp ground cumin
[ ] ½ tsp dried oregano
[ ] 1 bay leaf
[ ] 100 ml water
[ ] 1 tbsp red wine vinegar or lime juice
[ ] 150 g long-grain white rice, boiled as in Cooking Skills: Rice 1, chapter 2

For the experiments
[ ] 100 g dried black beans (soak overnight)
[ ] A second tin of black beans
[ ] A second pack of rice and coconut milk for the together-or-separate test
[ ] 1 extra large onion