The Rice Beans diet is an example (as mentioned in a previous post) of a very simple, healthful, and inexpensive diet that provides a complete protein. It fits perfectly with a vegetarian/vegan diet, as well!
A Personal Experience With This Diet…
The Rice Beans diet (or variations thereof) is one that I personally have had a lot of experience with. I had a somewhat traumatic experience quite a few years ago now. I took an aspirin tablet on an acid stomach, and ended up with major stomach bleeding, for which I ended up needing stomach surgery.
For quite some time after the surgery, it was a challenge to find foods that did not cause abdominal pain and that were easy to digest. Enter rice (and for some reason, apples)! I discovered that rice – as contrasted with potatoes – was very easy to digest.
So we started buying and making rice! I ate it every day. In fact, it was the main thing I ate every day. I ate it for breakfast, I took it to work and ate it for lunch, and I ate it for supper! Unfortunately, it was easier and simpler to make rice for the rest of the family for supper in particular, so my wife and children also ended up eating a lot of rice! We bought it in large sacks from the “International” foods section in the grocery store, that’s how much we used – probably 5-10 lbs every week or two…
For some reason, we didn’t actually use beans all that much with our rice – I think because beans were just a bit more difficult to digest for my sensitive (at that time) stomach. Mostly we cooked rice with peas – and sometimes green beans or corn.
Now I can eat many other things, my stomach has adapted! But I still love rice, even after having eaten so much for years.
What’s So Special About This Particular Combination?
Also, back then we used plain white rice; now I personally use instant brown rice for the most part – and use the crock pot.
Well, they taste great together! That’s a pretty good reason!
But from a health point of view, as mentioned above, rice and beans together form a complete protein! They don’t strictly have to be eaten together at the same meal, but when both are a regular part of the diet, you are getting great non-animal protein in a very simple (and low-cost) way! It’s very basic; it fits “simple,” “healthy” and “inexpensive” very well!
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“Beans and Rice, Rice and Beans”
Eating beans and rice has been “popularized” by Dave Ramsey, the popular “Get Out of Debt” radio personality – and for good reason!
He doesn’t say eat nothing but beans and rice, but the point of his show is to help people pay off debt, save, etc., and eating rice and beans represents the low-budget way of eating that helps you do just that! “Did you eat beans and rice, rice and beans? Is that how you became debt-free?” he asks. Thousands of his loyal listeners who have followed his advice can attest to the budgetary benefit of just such a simple and basic diet!
The Basic Method
OK, so you’ve bought a large bag of rice and, let’s say, cans of beans. Where do you go from there?
First of all, learn to cook rice! If it’s white rice, put two parts hot tap water and one part dry rice in a good quality kettle with a tight lid. Either with or without the lid, bring the riceto a boil, immediately put the lid on, and turn the heat to simmer/low. It should be enough that there is just a little “bubble” activity, but not a full boil. Here a clear glass lid helps!
Set a timer for 20 minutes and DON’T TOUCH THE LID! That’s the biggest mistake people make when cooking rice; that ruins the whole process! At the end of 20 minutes, turn the heat off, but leave the lid on for 10 more minutes. Your rice should be very nearly perfect!
(Alternatively, you can purchase a rice cooker, if you find you get poor or inconsistent results using the stovetop.)
Now for the “beans” part. You can heat the beans separately; in my experience, it doesn’t work as well to put the beans in with the rice.
The “beans” don’t actually have to be beans, some other vegetables CAN be added to the rice while it’s cooking. These include peas, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. You can add almost any vegetable; frozen peas can just be dumped in with the raw rice and cooked together with it, with no problem. You can also add canned chicken, tuna, salmon, etc.
For more flavor, open a pack of dry soup or bouillon, and cook together with the rice and/or vegetables; that really adds flavor! Rice is truly very versatile; you really can do a lot with it.
Brown rice cooking method
You may prefer brown rice for its greater fiber and nutrition – as I do. But if you’re a novice at rice, I personally don’t recommend cooking brown rice from scratch. I still haven’t perfected it! If you have, more power to you, but what I do is buy a large box of instant brown rice and use the crock pot.
Use equal parts water and rice – it takes 1.5 to 1.75 hours on the high setting – and again, you can add vegetables, canned meat, etc. right from the start. This method makes beautiful fluffy rice that I find hard to duplicate on the stove top.
Yes, the instant brown rice is a bit more expensive, but still well within budget territory – at least in North America!
To Finish Off
“Rice Beans Diet” and “Beans and Rice” can be just another way of saying “eat simply, healthfully, and cheaply!” Could be whole-grain bread and nut butter, or something else entirely!
However, can one-third (or whatever percentage) of the world be totally wrong? I doubt it! Beans and rice and variations thereof can be very satisfying and delicious food that you can happily live on for long periods of time, at a very low cost! I speak from years of experience! I can attest to that!
If you have any comments or questions about this post, please feel free to share them in the “Comments” section below!
