Vegan Spanish Rice with Pigeon Peas

Rice and beans, or in this case, rice and peas.

I had never in my life had a pigeon pea until my friend Yanira introduced me to them. She cooked them up in a big batch of Spanish rice, and oh my gosh, I could live of this dish.

It is so easy to make and super inexpensive. And it can easily feed a family of 6 with a side salad, or as a side for taco night, and there are still leftovers.

This Spanish rice is so quick and easy to make. You can use any long grain rice, I normally just use basmati because it is what I have on hand.

You just need a can of tomato sauce, the peas, an onion, and few pantry spice staples. Thats it! So easy!

I can easily find canned pigeon peas in the international isle at my grocery store in the Hispanic section. I have no solid description of them other than delicious. If you have never had a pigeon pea, then trust me, you are missing out!

All I know is that if I am making rice and beans (peas) this is the recipe I am making. It cheap, filling, delicious, easy, and flavorful. So pretty much the perfect recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced

• 2 cups any long grain white rice

• 2 tablespoons oil

• 3 1/3 cups water

• 15 oz can tomato sauce

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons No Chicken, or Vegetable Better Than Bouillon ( you can also skip this and replace the water with 3 1/2 cups veggie broth)

• 15.5 oz can pigeon peas

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat with the oil. Once the oil is nice and hot toss in the onion and garlic and cook until translucent.

2. Next add the rice to the pot and let it cook a few minutes until it begins to brown.

3. Whisk the Better than Bouillon with the 3 1/2 cups of water and add it to the pot along with tomato sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper. Give it a good stir.

4. Cover the pot and let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain and rinse the can of peas and add them to the pot. Let simmer 10-15 more minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked through.

5. Stir in fresh cilantro and serve.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Crispy Coconut Tofu with Tropical Rice

Sesame Tofu Tacos with Asian Slaw

Vegan Cashew Queso

Vegan Cajun Dirty Rice

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups cooked rice (white or brown)

• 4 thawed Beyond Meat burgers or a bag of your favorite meatless crumbles

• 1 large white onion diced small

• 3 celery stalks diced small

• 1/2 yellow or red bell pepper diced small

• 3 - 4 teaspoons of cajun seasoning (if you do not have any cajun spice, you can add 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic, paprika, onion powder, thyme, salt, pepper, and 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne). You can add more of the above if it is not seasoned to your liking.

• 1/4 cup of water

• 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce

• 1 teaspoon vegetable Better Than Boullion (they also make a reduced sodium version)

• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)

• sliced jalapeno (optional)

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook rice according to package instructions or in a rice cooker.

2. Heat a large skillet, or a wok works well too, with 2 teaspoons of oil on medium high heat.

3. Toss the chopped veggies into the pan, cooking until the onions are translucent and the peppers and celery have softened.

4. Add your "meat" and dry seasoning to the veggies, and continue cooking until the Beyond Meat, or crumbles are cooked through.

5. Whisk Better Than Boullion and Worcestershire sauce with the 1/4 cup of water

6. Reduce heat to med/ low and add water mixture, and the 4 cups of cooked rice to the pan.

7. Stir well and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. The rice will begin to stick to the bottom of the pan and get a little crispy. You want this! Just keep scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon while you stir.

8. Taste a little of the rice to see if it has enough spice, or seasoning for your liking. You can always add extra heat by adding some extra cayenne or black pepper.

9. Garnish with fresh parsley or jalapeño peppers.