Black Beans and Rice with Salsa
Two shelf-stable pouches, one pot, and a lot of salsa. Dinner in ten minutes.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 89
- protein
- 22 g
- serves
- 3, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant brown rice | 2 cups dry | the parboiled kind that rehydrates in ten minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated black bean flakes | 1 1/2 cups | or two cans if you are driving in |
| Shelf-stable salsa | 1 cup | pouch or small jar, not a fridge tub |
| Hard cheese | 3 oz | jack or cheddar in a block, grated at camp |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Cumin and salt | 1 tsp total | |
| Avocado | 1 | car camping only, buy it hard and let it ripen in the pack |
Method
- Boil 600 ml of water. Pour half over the rice in the pot, lid it, and pull it off the heat.
- While the rice sits, stir the bean flakes into the other half of the water in a mug or bowl. Give them five minutes to swell.
- Check the rice at eight minutes. If it is still crunchy, add a splash more water and put it back over low heat until the water is gone.
- Stir the oil, cumin, and salt into the beans, then spoon them over the rice.
- Grate the cheese on top while everything is hot, then the salsa. Diced avocado last, if you brought one.
The original is a cooler recipe: pre-cooked rice, canned beans, a bag of shredded cheese. That works from a car and nowhere else. Swapping in instant rice and dehydrated bean flakes cuts most of the weight and all of the refrigeration, and the beans rehydrate faster than the rice does, so nothing waits on anything.
Salsa is doing the seasoning here, which is why it is worth carrying wet. A block of hard cheese keeps for days out of a cooler and melts better than pre-shredded, which is coated in starch to keep it from clumping. Bring the avocado only if a car is involved.
Packing
Rice, bean flakes, and spices go in separate bags inside one dinner sack. Cheese and salsa ride apart from the dry goods; a leaking salsa pouch ruins the rice.
Variations
- Add a foil packet of chicken to the beans for another 20 g of protein per person.
- Skip the cheese and avocado and it goes vegan without losing much.
- Crush a handful of corn chips over the top for salt and crunch.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/black-beans-and-rice