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Peruvian White Beans and Rice

  • Author: The Yum Yum Factor - Carole Nelson Brown
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

I enjoy the challenge of offering a vegetarian version of dishes I serve that are an equally delicious version of the meal that the carnivores are going to eat. How to transform Aguadito de Pollo without the pollo (chicken)? It’s a traditional Peruvian dish of soupy chicken and rice with tons of cilantro and spicy aji amarillo, but a vegetarian option was needed. I tried a bunch of different things from tofu to jackfruit but nothing worked nearly as well as creamy white beans.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 poblano chilis, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 3 scallions, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 1 to 2 tbsp Aji Amarillo paste (a Peruvian pepper found in many South American stores or online)
  • 2 heaping cups of washed and roughly chopped cilantro approx 1/4 cup water
  • *1 cup presoaked white beans
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 3/4 cup of basmati rice
  • pinch kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup of frozen peas
  • 1 cup snap peas
  • Garnish – chopped cilantro and lime wedges
  • **cooked black rice – optional

Instructions

Throw the poblanos, scallions, garlic, cilantro and a bit of water in the blender and puree. Add just enough water to get it going – 1/4 cup should be about the maximum needed but don’t worry if it’s a bit more.

You can either pre-soak your beans over night OR do a quick pre-soak in the Instant pot but you want to presoak 1 cup of dried beans and have them ready.

*To Quick Soak the beans min the pressure cooker give them a quick rinse in a strainer, swooshing them around to clean.  Put them in the pot with 4 cups of water and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil with the lid off using the sauté function and then quickly lock in the lid and pressure cook for 2 minutes at high pressure. When the time is up, do a gradual pressure release, letting off little spurts of steam. If foam starts coming out the valve, wait 30 seconds and start releasing the steam again until the pin drops and the pressure is released. Beans tend to foam so you need to be patient when releasing steam. Drain the beans under cold water and proceed to the recipe.

Preheat the Instant Pot (or the saute function on your brand of electric pressure cooker) and when it’s hot, add the canola oil and scrape the green cilantro puree into the hot oil and cook that , stirring frequently, for about 4 or 5 minutes, until it turns a really deep green. Pour in the four cups of vegetable stock and then pour the 3 cups of water into the blender and give it a good shake so that you don’t waste any of that green puree and add that into the pot, mix in the cumin. Put the soaked
beans in the pot along with the basmati rice, lock the lid in (make sure the vent is closed) and program it for 10 minutes at High Pressure.

When the time is up, do a quick release, open the lid, add the frozen peas and snap peas, put the lid back on so the peas can heat up in the hot soup for at least five minutes.

To serve, if using the black rice, add a scoop to each bowl, cover with soup, sprinkle a bit more cilantro over the top and some sliced scallions and top each bowl with a couple of lime wedges on the side.


Notes

Cook 1 cup of black rice separately and set it aside. I do this in my
rice cooker while the soup is cooking but you can do it before hand ,up
to a day in advance. Cook it the same way you would cook basmati rice.

Keywords: soup