Beans and Rice, Potatoes, and Steamed Cabbage

As unimaginative as Beans and Rice, Potatoes, and Steamed Cabbage sounds, it represents a comfort meal at home. Since we don't eat out much, I like to present "dinner plates" with portioned out variety of menu items. Not only does it help me keep track of what I eat, it also provides a nice gauge for D and the kids, not to mention a nice presentation.

Food Court eateries aren't quite gourmet usually, but, certain menus there satisfy certain moods for me. One such pick I default to when I find myself in a Food Court at lunch time is this combination of Beans and Rice, Potatoes, and Steamed Cabbage+Carrots, topped with some chili sauce. This almost always turns out greasier than I like, but very filling.

The recipe here is nothing exciting: cook the favorite beans and rice together with seasoning, pan-fry some par-boiled and sliced potatoes with onions, steam some green cabbage and julienned carrots. All this can be done in parallel, leading to a quick yet sumptuous meal.

I like black beans and basmati rice for this, but, kidney beans with long grain rice would be good too. Typically, over weekends, I steam some potatoes in the steamer that comes with the rice cooker and store it in the fridge/freezer for later use so it is handy.

For this presentation, I like the rice and beans to be fairly dry, not runny like I prefer the Red Beans and Rice dish. Garnish with cilantro and serve warm.