Refried Beans, Coconut Green Rice, Grilled Peppers and Avocado

I decided to cook this to use up some ingredients I had in the fridge but it turned out rather tasty so I will write it down and definitely cook it again!  The refried beans I have cooked many times and go well with tacos if you want to skip the meat as well.  I don’t add any spices to the beans as I just enjoy the sweetness from the onion to flavour them but you could use spices such as cumin, coriander, smoked paprika if you wanted an extra kick to the recipe.  The good thing about having things like limes, coriander, coconut milk and peppers in the house is that you can go either way – Thai or Mexican!  As you might have guessed – two of my favourite cuisines!

Serves 1

Rice:

60g brown rice

75g spinach

a handful of fresh coriander

1 tbsp coconut milk

Refried Beans:

1 onion

3 tsp of olive oil

1 clove of garlic

1 can of kidney beans

100ml vegetable stock

salt and pepper

Sides:

1/2 each of two different coloured peppers

1/2 avocado

1/2 lime

salt and pepper

fresh coriander to garnish

1.  Boil the kettle and heat up 2 hobs, preheat the grill to medium high.
2. Put the rice into plenty of boiling water, bring up to the boil and then simmer for 25 minutes
3. In the meantime, prepare everything else.
4. Blitz the coriander and spinach in a food processor until fine
5. Heat 2 tsp oil in a small saucepan and then turn down to low (3).
6. Dice the onion and add to the saucepan to slowly cook through for 10 minutes until translucent.  Any time the pan gets too hot or there is no oil left, pour in a splash of water from the kettle until it has evaporated or been absorbed.  We want the onions soft and sweet not crunchy.
7. Meanwhile cut 2 sides off each pepper, discard any internal flesh and cut each side into 2.  Line a grill pan with foil and put under the grill skin side up.  This should take about 10 – 15 minutes to brown.  You can either brown the skin or char it black and remove it at the end.
8. Remove the skin and slice the avocado half.  Dress with the juice from half the lime, salt and pepper.
9. Crush in the garlic into the pan of onions and stir fry for 1 minute.
10. Drain and rinse the beans in a colander and add to the pan with the stock.  Turn up high and cook for about 5 minutes until nearly all of the stock has evaporated or been absorbed.
11. Add a pinch of salt and pepper  and mash in the pan.  Then add the last teaspoon of oil and a splash of water if it looks too dry and refry the beans on a medium heat.
12. Drain the rice when ready and return it to the pan.  Stir in the spinach and coriander mixture and the coconut milk.  Return to the hob to heat through for a minute.
13. Arrange all on a plate and serve.