Tomato Rice and Pinto Beans

How it's Supposed to Look:




There's this amazing Mexican restaurant called La Palapa in Manhattan and I'm obsessed! with it's tomato rice and pinto beans. I've been known to drag a friend there, just so I can eat the rice. Of course when you go there, you just can't eat the rice and beans, you have to eat tacos, and drink margaritas. Which usually ends with me spending way too much money. My roommate Katharine suggested I learn to cook it, so I did.









How Mine Looks:



Tomato Rice

Required Ingredients

* 1 can of whole tomatoes (drained)
* ½ a small white onion (roughly chopped)
* 2 garlic cloves (halved)
* 1-¾ cups of chicken broth or water
* 1-½ tablespoons of olive oil
* 4 whole tomatoes (unpeeled)
* 1-½ cups of rice (medium-grain)
* 2 carrots (scraped and chopped into ¼ inch pieces)
* 2 serrano chilies or 2 jalapenos (slit lengthwise nearly end to end)
* ¼ cup of chopped fresh parsley
* ½ cup of a 10-oz. Box of frozen peas
* Salt

Instructions

* Combine the canned tomatoes with onion and garlic and blend in a blender. Blend the tomatoes smooth to equal 1 cup.
* Heat the broth/water until it is steaming and then lightly oil the tomatoes.
* Grill the tomatoes enough to char their skins. When the tomatoes have cooled, remove the peels and chop them.
* Take a 3-quart saucepan and heat olive oil in it over a medium flame. To this add raw rice and stir regularly during a cooking period of 5 minutes.
* Add the tomato mixture and carrots, and stir for a few minutes. Let it cook until it looks somewhat dry.
* After this, add the warm broth or water, chilies and parsley and stir the mixture thoroughly.
* Cover the pan with a lid and place on a range burner or a cooking grate of charcoal or gas grill (indirect, medium flame).
* Cover this for 15 minutes or until the liquid is almost absorbed. Then add peas and grilled tomatoes, and stir with a fork. Cover the pan and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
* When done, gently fluff the rice with a fork. Remove the chilies and use it to decorate the top of the rice and serve.



PINTO BEANS: Recipe via find.myrecipes.com


Ingredients

* 1 cup dried pinto beans
* 3 cups reserved chicken broth
* 3 bacon slices, diced
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 2 teaspoons chili powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preparation

Sort and wash pinto beans; place in a large saucepan. Cover with water 2 inches above beans, and bring to a boil. Boil beans 1 minute. Cover, remove from heat, and let soak 1 hour. Drain.

Bring beans, broth, and remaining ingredients to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours. Chill, if desired; reheat over medium heat.



In the end it was ok, but no La Palapa. The beans came out a dark brown color instead of the reddish brown color I was expecting. Also, I jumped the gun and added the tomatoes to cook into the rice as opposed to waiting till the end and putting it in later as decoration... Well, I had some and my family had some and they liked it, so better luck next time.