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Baking is fun, but cooking good food is also of great joy! If you looking for something to cook for dinner or for your planned 4th of July barbecue get together with a Latin flare try this rice dish. Moro de habichuelas is simply rice and beans cooked together, but it is delicious! The recipe I share below is among the most popular moros. Black beans rice called arroz congri by the Cubans, pigeon peas rice (arroz con guandules), corn rice (moro de maiz) and vegetables rice (arroz con vegetales) are also very popular.
You can make this type of rice with canned beans, but for best flavor and healthier version I recommend using stewed beans (habichuelas guisadas) preferably the leftover of the day before. The recipe for stewed beans my way can be found in my ebook, How to Cook Dominican Style. At the end of the recipe you will find the notes of other ways to make this rice. For example, if you have no stewed beans, or no prepared seasoning, you can still prepare this rice and hopefully my notes will be of help to you.
This rice can be used as a side dish to meat or fish. It is one of those all-time favorite dish in the Dominican Republic, and if you have not yet tasted it or wish to cook it, this is the recipe you need to follow for authentic Dominican flavor. Enjoy!
Rice and Beans (Moro de Habichuelas)
Ingredients:2 pounds rice (4 cups)
5 cups cooked beans
1 cup hot water
¼ cup oil
½ cup of Dominican Sazon
1 chopped onion soaked in 2 tablespoons vinegar or sour orange juice
2½ tablespoons tomato paste or ½ cup of tomato sauce
1 chicken bouillon
½ tsp salt or to taste
Dash of pepper or to taste
A small bunch of cilantro
Preparation:
1. In a large heavy bottom pot, heat oil over medium heat, add seasoning, chopped onion with vinegar, tomato paste, and chicken bouillon; mix well. Leave it to cook for 1 -2 minutes.
2. Add beans, water, cover and cook on medium-high heat until it begins to boil.
3. Meanwhile, clean and rinse the rice. When the stew beans mixture begins to boil, add the rice, add more hot water if needed to have the correct amount of liquid required for the amount of rice you are going to cook. Water should be sufficient to cover the rice and a little more. You must take into account that the moros need a little more water than regular plain rice to cook.
4. Add salt, black pepper and cilantro. Mix until combined, set heat to medium low and cover the pot.
5. When the sauce has reduce, use a spoon to stir the rice and prevent it from sticking to the sides of the pot; continue to cook it over low heat. Depending on the type of rice and the amount used, check for doneness in 30 -45 minutes. You can cook black beans rice (congrí rice) or any other moro in this same manner.
Serves 6 people.
Notes:
a) The more beans the tastier, but if you do not have 5 full cups of stewed beans that is no problem, you’ll can get away with using 2½ cups of stewed beans and complete the rest with water to measure 5 cups.
b) Do not have previous day cooked beans? Then cook ½ cup of beans in 7 cups of water until tender, then season with 1 clove garlic, ¼ teaspoon oregano, half an onion or 3 tablespoons of seasoning. Be sure to cook leaving enough broth.
c) What if you do not have stewed beans nor want to cook some, use a can or two of red or Roman beans (pinto). For congrí used cans black beans.
d) To substitute the ½ cup of prepared Dominican seasoning use 1 chopped onion, 4 cloves crushed garlic, 1 cubanela pepper or bell pepper, oregano and a little saffron or achiote.
e) Like this rice with ham? Saute 1 pound chopped ham in step # 1. Cook the ham until it has browned, and then proceed to add seasoning and the other ingredients to make the sauce.
f) If two pounds of rice is much for your household, divide the recipe in half, or if you want to cook for more people you can double the recipe.
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