Caribbean rice!

This rice recipe is so simple and really really tasty! The great thing about it is that it's versatile - so if you're out of black eyed beans, or green peas (like I was in France when we tucked into this dinner), you can still make it work and no one will be any the wiser!

This is not a strict recipe passed down from generations before me - it's actually just something I threw together in a bid to combine some of my favourite Caribbean flavours, without acting as the main event - which in this case was the jerk chicken!

For this you'll need:

1 cup brown rice

Boullion or other stock

Olive oil

Coconut palm sugar/demerera brown sugar

Soy sauce

Black eyed beans/red kidney beans/haricot beans

Peas and/or sweetcorn

1 x onion

Start by boiling the rice in a little stock (see a previous post on cooking perfect rice!) and then move onto the yumminess that will eventually be mixed into the rice. First dice your onion and drain your beans - the next part of the recipe requires moving quickly and carefully so make sure you're totally prepped at this stage. Also, make sure you have a lid for your pot at the ready! Now drizzle a little olive oil so that it's covering the base of your pot in a thin layer. Let this oil heat up on a high heat and sprinkle over enough sugar to again cover the bottom of the pan but not too thickly. You will notice the sugar starting to bubble and turn golden brown - go against your better judgement and allow the sugar to continue caramelising until it's starts to turn much darker in colour, almost black! At this point throw your beans and onions into the pot and cover quickly as this will cause splashing and spluttering, and you do not want to get hit by what is essentially boiling caramel! Let it do it's thing for a few seconds until it sounds as though things have calmed down in the pot, then turn the heat down, lift the lid and give the whole lot a careful stir - the onions and beans should be thinly coated in the sweet mixture. Now add a dash of soy sauce to give it a little saltiness and season with some pepper too. Leave the onions and beans to cook gently for 5-10 mins and just before they're done, pop the sweet corn and peas into the pot to heat through. Once both the rice and beans are cooked, mix everything together, do a quick taste test and then serve with whatever else you fancy!

Good luck :) Let me know how you get on!

Oh and don't forget - spread a little happiness today! X