Saturday, May 5, 2012

Two Ways with Gallo Pinto

Such a beautiful name for a simple rice and bean dish. One thing I love about this is how the dish so easily morphs to fit your day. It can take time to prepare and be a lovingly hand crafted thing of all naturalness or it can be made on the fly with convenient items and enjoyed on a work night. Below are my two ways with Gallo Pinto - one slow and the other fast. Think about which fits your way to live today and enjoy the goodness.

This dish is wonderful on its own with a salad or as a side dish to just about anything - smoked sausage, grilled chicken breasts, or fajitas are great choices.

Because those of you that need the fast version will not hang around long on the page, the fast version is first. I've run the nutrition for both assuming it is a side dish and put links under the titles.

pinto beans
Speedy Gallo Pinto
nutrition facts

Ingredients:

one box of flavored* whole grain rice or rice/vermicelli mixture
     Good flavor choices include: pilaf, chicken,
     Tex-Mex, Spanish, etc
1 16 ounce can of beans, rinsed and drained
     Last time I made this I used black beans with
     Near East's Whole Grain Pilaf, any bean will
     do - white, black, pinto, red, kidney, etc. Choose the one you like best or that best suits the other flavors of the meal.
1 t granulated garlic
Sriracha sauce

The very simple things to do:

black beans
Start the rice per package directions except that you will add an extra teaspoon of garlic powder. In the meantime, rinse and drain the beans in a colander. When the rice is about 10 minutes from finishing, dump the beans on top and cover - do not stir, just let them sit on top and heat while the rice finishes cooking. When the rice is done, give it all a stir. Serve with the Sriracha sauce.

Now, was that not incredibly simple?

*Have you ever read the labels on the boxes of flavored rice? Most contain an entire day's ration of sodium in one serving. So, do get a lower sodium flavored rice and reserve the fast way for those days when you are otherwise eating low sodium or you really need to get a filling quick and reasonably nutritious dinner on the table asap.

Lazy Day Gallo Pinto
nutrition facts

Do this first:

1/2 a pound of dried beans, rinsed, picked over for stones, and soaked (overnight or fast method as you prefer - check the label for directions). Drain the pot, rinse the soaked beans, return them to the pot, cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until the beans are tender - about an hour or so depending on your choice of beans. Drain and reserve.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped
red bean

1 red bell pepper
1 yellow or orange banana pepper
1/2 t cracked black pepper (or to taste)
3 cups cooked brown rice
3 cups cooked beans
Sriracha sauce

What to do:

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and saute the onion until it softens a bit - at least 10 minutes. Add the peppers and saute another five minutes or so. Add the garlic and saute for another two minutes. Sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper. Add the beans and rice and stir until everything is nice and hot. Serve with Sriracha (or salsa!).

There are so many mindful options with this sort of dish. Change up the peppers to your hearts content. Skip the Sriracha (although why you would want to do that I have not a clue). Or add jalapenos or serranos instead of adding the heat at the table. Mushrooms are wonderful in a dish like this, chop them up and saute them with the other veggies. Enjoy it often!

16 comments:

  1. Gallo Pinto ins a Costa Rican Recipe. Your intentions are great but this in not gallo pinto. This is rice and beans. Which is tasty. The cooking method for gallo pinto is different.

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  2. how do you make Costa Rican beans? I got the starter on the long version for this recipe from a Nicaraguan friend, maybe they make it differently?

    I'd very much like to try making it the Costa Rican way!

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  3. Thanks for the recipe! Do you have any idea how many servings this makes? I want to figure out the calorie count.

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  4. both ways with the beans and rice are already figured for calories and servings. Under the title of each is a link to the nutrition facts for a single serving - it also says how many servings there are by the word "ingredients". Since the facts were run on Calorie Count, you can just go ahead and add a serving to your day when you make it. Hope you love it like I do!

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    Replies
    1. Sodium content inprepard foods is riddiculous if you are trying to keep it low. If you are not paying attention tosodium you re getting too much.

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  5. yup, that's why that version is the fast food version. Check out the sodium in Way #2!

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  6. you could also just use plain fast cooking brown rice in the first one and add in some seasonings - that would help you a lot with sodium and still make it fast!

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    Replies
    1. I can't understand why folks don't just forget the high sodium flavor packets in the pre-packaged items or at least cut down the amount a lot to just get a bit of the flavors and add in their own. The other ingredients are fine for those of us who struggle to get healthy meals on our tables - add a salad and ouila!

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  7. I am always surprised that folks don't just forget about the high sodium packets of spices and just add in their own, or just use part of the packet. There's no law saying the entire packet MUST be used. I am always needing shortcuts for cooking nutritious meals. Just add a salad and ouila!

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  8. Your nutrition value is based on green beans rather than dried beans. The calorie difference between those two is tremendous. Therefore your values are wrong.

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  9. good catch. It changed the values on the Lazy Gallo Pinto from 15 calories for the beans per serving to 85. Thanks! all fixed. For those concerned, the quick version was correct.

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  10. Gallo Pinto is a Nicaraguan dish. It is made with small red beans, white rice and onions. The onions are sauteed first in a neutral oil, then the cooked beans are added and lastly the cooked rice. You continue stirring until it is well blended. It is served usually for breakfast with eggs, fresh tortillas and cheese but it can be eaten at any time of day. No jalapenos or peppers are added but it is a personal choice to add hot sauce. The fast version would be to use canned beans, which are added to the rice while it is cooking, but it does not taste the same. Your version with the vermicelli is interesting but that is not Gallo Pinto...

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    Replies
    1. This is correct. Gallo Pinto has only rice, been, onion and oil.
      Healthy and deliciuos.

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. No, it is not authentic. I am an American - and make this dishes as they suit my taste buds...rather like when I make "Italian" food. What I make is NOT something that you would ever see cooked in Italy - even though I may give it the same name.

    I love your details about the authentic version! Such a simple thing to make. I can easily see it in a tortilla, although I've just used it as a side. What sort of ratio of beans to rice is right? Should there be more rice than beans?

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