Feast logo

Peas or Beans and Rice is a Comfort Food Many Equate With Heritage and Home

Almost every country and/or some specific cities or regions within a country has their own version of a rice dish that the people never get tired of eating.

By Treathyl Fox (aka cmoneyspinner)Published 4 years ago 4 min read
Like

I'm American, of Bahamian descent, and my family loved Bahamian style pigeon peas and rice. There is a variation of this rice dish practically all over the Caribbean. That's why I emphasized the “Bahamian style”. My father was a Bahamian. My mom was American, but she learned how to cook this dish for him and I grew up eating it at least 2-3 days during the week, and for sure it was served as a part of our large Sunday dinners. Other than a bay leaf I can't recall all of the herbs and spices she used in her recipe. Honestly, I don't think she ever made it the same way twice. When I grew up and got married, my late husband who was also from the Bahamas showed me all kinds of ways to vary the recipe. He did not like to use a bay leaf and preferred dried thyme leaves. In addition, he loved sampling all kinds of peas-n-rice or beans-n-rice recipes. The pigeon peas and rice dish is just one of them and I learned how to cook all of the recipes.

It almost seems like every county has its own version of a rice dish that all the citizens, whether rich or poor, love to eat. It's like comfort food that evokes warm feelings, memories of the smells from mom's kitchen and enjoying family dinners. Some recipes become so popular they get elevated to national status. If you visit that part of the world, all the locals will insist that you taste the “national rice dish”. They're proud and view it as representing their heritage and home.

For me, the Bahamian pigeon peas and rice recipe is the ultimate comfort food. You can eat a bowl of it and you don't need anything else to go with it.

Come along with me on virtual foodie travels and discover several wonderful peas-and-rice or beans-and-rice recipes.

There is an Indian dish peas pulao or matar pulao. It's rice made with green peas and all kinds of spices. Two food bloggers had two different ways to make this rice dish.

For one recipe, found at “Vegan Recipes of India”, the spice combination is cinnamon, black and green cardamoms, cloves, mace, bay leaf, and cumin seeds.

Peas Pulao | Matar Pulao (Easy One Pot) | Dassana’s Veg Recipes

The other recipe, found at “Indian Healthy Recipes”, took it up a notch. The spice combination includes ginger garlic (paste or chopped) and green chilies plus cumin, green cardamons, cloves, cinnamon, and bay leaf. Then it suggests these spices as “optional”: star anise, mace, nutmeg, and … ??? … something called “little stone flower” (???) A stone flower? Yes. I did research to find out more about this particular food ingredient

Peas pulao recipe | How to make matar pulao | Green peas pulav

In addition to India, and there are lots of other places (cities or countries) that have a similar dish are Jamaica, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Regional cooking Southern USA, Korea, New Orleans, Ghana, Israel, etc.

What else do people do with beans or peas and rice?

Some people also make a veggie burger, soup, or even a salad by modifying a recipe for beans or peas and rice.

“A Beautiful Mess” is a lifestyle blog published by two sisters and they post about crafts, home décor, fashion and style, business advice, and share recipes.

“Joy the Baker” is a popular food blog published a lady who is a professional baker, food photographer, and author of several cookbooks.

Both of these bloggers show you how to turn beans and rice into burgers. It's a tasty way to recycle leftovers and terrific for those on a plant-based or vegan-friendly diet.

Red Beans and Rice Veggie Burgers - A Beautiful Mess

Red Beans and Rice Burgers – Joy the Baker

“Lemons for Lulu” posted a recipe for red beans and rice soup that makes you drool just looking at the photographs. This dish is not for vegans or vegetarians. It has chunky pieces of smoked bacon and sausage. Well! I suppose one could use vegan bacon and vegan sausage.

Red Beans and Rice Soup | LemonsforLulu.com

♦ How to Make Vegan Bacon and Vegan Sausage:

Last but not least, you will love this peas-and-rice salad published via "Simply Recipes".

Basmati Rice Salad with Peas, Mint, and Lemon Recipe | SimplyRecipes.com

recipe
Like

About the Creator

Treathyl Fox (aka cmoneyspinner)

Work-at-home professional since 2007. Blogger, writer, affiliate marketer, freelance worker.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.