Rice and Peas
Since finishing my Jenny Craig trial I’ve been trying to find healthy meals to cook for us, as well as using up some of the vast stockpile of food in the dry cupboard. I soaked and then slow cooked the last of a pack of dry gungo peas (pigeon peas) overnight and while I was out at work today and now I am using a lot of them for rice and peas, the Jamaican classic. The rest I will make into a pea soup with other veg or perhaps a pea masala tomorrow. This is my rice and pea recipe, I am in no way claiming any authenticity. There is, for example, tinned spinach in my version, because there is a large open tin in the fridge, and we are running out of other vegetables today!
Lo-Lo’s Rice and Peas
Serves 5
Ingredients
200g uncooked basmati rice
250g gungo peas, pre soaked and boiled until soft
1 tin of coconut milk
1 tin of water
2 large onions, chopped (I used one white and one red)
A few spoonfuls of tinned spinach
3 cloves garlic
2 chillis, chopped (or more/less according to taste)
2 tsp Jamaican Jerk seasoning (a cheat but worth it)
1 stock cube
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Lo-Lo’s Rice and Peas
Serves 5
Ingredients
200g uncooked basmati rice
250g gungo peas, pre soaked and boiled until soft
1 tin of coconut milk
1 tin of water
2 large onions, chopped (I used one white and one red)
A few spoonfuls of tinned spinach
3 cloves garlic
2 chillis, chopped (or more/less according to taste)
2 tsp Jamaican Jerk seasoning (a cheat but worth it)
1 stock cube
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Chop your onions, garlic and chilli and soften in the olive oil until translucent.
- Add the Jerk seasoning and stir in.
- Add the cooked peas, uncooked rice to the onion mixture and fry lightly for a few minutes.
- Add the stock cube, tin of coconut milk and same amount of water.
- Bring it all to the boil then simmer for 20 minutes. I put it on low and covered with a lid for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
- Make sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom.
- When most of the liquid is absorbed, stir in the spinach and check the seasoning. Heat for a final minute.
- Serve and enjoy! We had it on it’s own, but you could use some more of that seasoning to make yourself some Jerk Chicken to go with it…
Nutritional Information per Serving (One fifth of the recipe)
172.4 calories
2.4g fat
0.2g sat fat
0 cholesterol
31g carbohydrate
5.2g dietary fibre
Negligible sugar
6.8g protein
42% RDA Vit A
13.6% RDAVit C
17.7% RDA Iron
7.7% Calcium
Going to give this is a go one evening this week.
There is a picture… 🙂
Rice and peas always an excellent choice. Shame we can't see a picture of it!
low cholesterol is a big bonus!