If you are just getting started with the Mediterranean diet and looking for a fool-proof, no fuss way to make a balanced dinner recipe out of a handful of affordable ingredients, then this 30-minute lemony baked rice and bean recipe is for you.
Oh I’m so excited by this recipe I believe I have nothing organised for this evening as yet. It’s just after 6am here Sunday morning. I will certainly use what’s seasonal here, what a great base recipe that can be flipped a little by making it seasonal no matter the time of year. Dinner tonight…sorted. Thank you Caroline. Off to reread and enjoy it again with my first cuppa for the day. ☕️
I need your help and advice on this one, Caroline! The flavor was good but the texture was a mushy mess. I took you to mean brown rice when you called for whole grain rice, so I used Lundberg Family Farms Brown Basmati rice, and I used canned Cannellini beans. When the 30 minutes cooking time was up, the liquid was mostly gone but the rice was still hard, so I added another cup of water and cooked for another 10 minutes. After stirring in the lemon juice, most of the beans had disintegrated and turned the dish mushy. It tastes great but it’s not as pretty as your photo, with its beautifully separated rice grains.
I'm so sorry you had trouble with this one, Amy. My goal is always to do that "test kitchen" stuff so that nobody else has to! When I lived in the US, I bought Lundberg rice all the time and always had good luck with it. I can't say I've had the same experience with this recipe as you did, even when I went back and looked at my test kitchen notes to figure out your problem. The winter version I made in the oven, the summer version on the stovetop. If you used the oven, could your oven have been running hot so the liquid didn't have time to absorb properly? Could the lid not be on tight? If so a layer of aluminum foil as added insurance for a tight seal might help. One suggestion I can make is test the doneness of the rice before adding the beans and if the rice is close to done, then add the beans (because after all, we are trying to infuse them with flavor, not cook from scratch). And in this way, you can also judge if the rice is cooking in the normal amount of time per the package directions, and add the beans 5-10 minutes before the rice is done. I hope these ideas help a little. Let me know if you need more help though. XO C
Thank you for the wonderful tips! I used my Le Creuset brasier on the stovetop. Next time I will cook the rice in the oven and add the beans near the end. I have had good results cooking rice or beans in cast iron in the oven due to the more even heat from all sides, not just the bottom. I appreciate the help!
Glad to hear it... funny though that I use the same braiser on the stovetop too. As I recall I keep the temperature lowered a bit since the bottom retains so much heat and the stovetop is induction burner, not gas - which sometimes is almost a bit too "efficient"!
Oh I’m so excited by this recipe I believe I have nothing organised for this evening as yet. It’s just after 6am here Sunday morning. I will certainly use what’s seasonal here, what a great base recipe that can be flipped a little by making it seasonal no matter the time of year. Dinner tonight…sorted. Thank you Caroline. Off to reread and enjoy it again with my first cuppa for the day. ☕️
Thanks much!
I’m going to make this next week for an evening meal and enjoy the leftovers during the rest of the week. It sounds delicious!
I need your help and advice on this one, Caroline! The flavor was good but the texture was a mushy mess. I took you to mean brown rice when you called for whole grain rice, so I used Lundberg Family Farms Brown Basmati rice, and I used canned Cannellini beans. When the 30 minutes cooking time was up, the liquid was mostly gone but the rice was still hard, so I added another cup of water and cooked for another 10 minutes. After stirring in the lemon juice, most of the beans had disintegrated and turned the dish mushy. It tastes great but it’s not as pretty as your photo, with its beautifully separated rice grains.
I'm so sorry you had trouble with this one, Amy. My goal is always to do that "test kitchen" stuff so that nobody else has to! When I lived in the US, I bought Lundberg rice all the time and always had good luck with it. I can't say I've had the same experience with this recipe as you did, even when I went back and looked at my test kitchen notes to figure out your problem. The winter version I made in the oven, the summer version on the stovetop. If you used the oven, could your oven have been running hot so the liquid didn't have time to absorb properly? Could the lid not be on tight? If so a layer of aluminum foil as added insurance for a tight seal might help. One suggestion I can make is test the doneness of the rice before adding the beans and if the rice is close to done, then add the beans (because after all, we are trying to infuse them with flavor, not cook from scratch). And in this way, you can also judge if the rice is cooking in the normal amount of time per the package directions, and add the beans 5-10 minutes before the rice is done. I hope these ideas help a little. Let me know if you need more help though. XO C
Thank you for the wonderful tips! I used my Le Creuset brasier on the stovetop. Next time I will cook the rice in the oven and add the beans near the end. I have had good results cooking rice or beans in cast iron in the oven due to the more even heat from all sides, not just the bottom. I appreciate the help!
Glad to hear it... funny though that I use the same braiser on the stovetop too. As I recall I keep the temperature lowered a bit since the bottom retains so much heat and the stovetop is induction burner, not gas - which sometimes is almost a bit too "efficient"!
Caroline, do I use the green parts of the leeks?