Effortless Tropical Coconut Lime Baked Rice and Black Bean Soup

I love baked rice dishes because they are so low-maintenance. I remember my first experience with cooking rice as a teenager; I burned the rice completely to the pan because I wasn't watching it and apparently didn't know enough to set a timer to remind me to check on it. My saintly father spent quite some time scrubbing off the blackened rice remains clinging to the pan. In retrospect, I'm not sure why he didn't make me clean it up myself! This tropical rice dish prevents any such catastrophes: Just pop the rice in the oven for an easy side dish to any meal of tacos, burritos, enchiladas, whatever suits your fancy.  Or just add some black beans and make this a meal in itself.  If you find yourself with some leftover rice, like I did tonight, you can make it into a super-yummy black bean soup, the recipe for which I included here, too.



For the rice:
1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice
3/4 c. regular, full-fat coconut milk
2 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. dried onion, or 1/2 yellow or sweet onion, finely chopped 
1 Tbsp. agave nectar
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 small sweet potato, diced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 ripe mango, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 and oil a 9x13 inch baking pan. Mix all of the ingredients in the pan, except for the mango. Cover the pan with foil and bake for one hour. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Remove the rice from the oven and stir in the diced mango. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

If you have leftover, please do make the soup, which Anthony described as "awesome."

For the soup:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced
1 small sweet potato, diced
1 carrot, diced
1-1 1/2 cups tropical baked rice (recipe above)
1 1/2 cups or 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 rounded tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3-4 cups water
1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/4 cup orange juice

1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 ripe plantain (yellow with a few brown spots)

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, sweet potato, and carrot, and cook until the onion is softened and translucent. Add the rice, beans, spices, and enough water to cover everything. Bring to a low boil and then simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the sweet potato and carrot are very soft.
2. While the soup cooks, heat the coconut oil in a large skillet and dice the plantain.  Brown the plantain in the hot oil for a few minutes, until browned and soft.
3. Transfer a little more than half of the soup to the blender and add the coconut milk and orange juice.  Blend until smooth, and then pour back into the pot and mix with the unblended portion of the soup. Serve hot with the fried plantains on top.

In other Cinco de Mayo weekend fun, everyone had a great time when our cousin, baby Weston, came to visit. Now every baby Abiline sees is "baby Wessuhn!"

This post is linked to My Meatless Mondays,  Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Allergy-Free Wednesdays,  Whole Foods Wednesdays , Taste-tastic Thursdays,  Wellness Weekend, Fresh Bites Fridays, and Sunday Night Soup Night.