West Indian style rice and peas have to be my favourite rice dish! So you can believe it when I lived near the West Indian take out in Moss Side, I would get one huge tub full of rice and peas all to myself! Honestly, I could eat it till it was going out of fashion!

So when I made my gluten free Jerk chicken for the first time,  which was inspired by Bob Marley’s birthday, I also thought it’d be a great time to make rice and peas!

However, just like the jerk chicken recipe, there seemed to be a gazillion ways of making rice and peas! I really didn’t have a clue where to start, although buying a packet of rice would be a good start! So since I used the gorgeous Caroline MiLi Artiss ‘s Jerk chicken recipe for inspiration, I thought I’d also use her rice and peas recipe as inspiration too!

The dish came out tasting absolutely gorgeous, although I did find the rice to be slightly stodgy which I honestly don’t mind! However, if you do mind, maybe try 1/2ing the amount of water you use.

Ingredients:

• tablespoon of Oil
• Handful of sprigs of Spring Onion [finely chopped]
• 2 Garlic Cloves [finely chopped]
• 1 teaspoon of Dried Thyme
• 2 teaspoon of Jerk Seasoning
• 1 can of Kidney Beans
• 250g Rice [which has been washed in several changes of water. Any variety can be used, I used Basmati]
• 1 can of Coconut Milk
• 250ml Water
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1. In a pan over medium heat, add the oil with the chopped Spring Onion and Garlic 
2. When the Spring Onion begins to soften, add the Kidney Beans along with Jerk Seasoning, the Dried Thyme and mix together 
3. Add the Rice and mix together 
4. Add the Coconut Milk and give it a good stir 
5. Add the Water, Salt and Pepper and leave it on medium heat until it begins to bubble 
6. Now turn the heat to the lowest setting, pop on a lid and leave it to simmer for 40 minutes or until all the water and coconut has been absorbed 
7. Give it another stir, and serve with gluten free jerk chicken!