Caribbean Rice and Peas with Spanish Sauce- vegan

 

Even the kids, who claim not to like coconut-flavoured rice, ate this up! The sauce came out hotter than I wanted, because the smoked paprika was "hot" rather than plain smoked paprika, so watch out for that one... other than that, though, it was very tasty and more-ish. I'm not claiming either the rice or the sauce to be authentic Caribbean/ Spanish; but rather my interpretation; many years ago, however, I learnt to make rice and peas from "The Rasta Cookbook" , a real classic.
This recipe will serve 5-6 people:
Sauce: 1 can chopped tomatoes
100ml water
1-2 tsps smoked paprika
1 level tsp hing
seasalt to taste
Rice and Peas: 275 cooked black-eyed beans/ red kidney beans
1 1/2 cups uncooked brown basmati rice
3 cups water mixed with 1 heaped tsp yeast etract
1x 160ml can coconut cream
2 tabs desiccated coconut
seasalt, black pepper and dried thyme to taste

• First, cook the brown rice in the water and yeast extract.
• Start the sauce by putting all the ingredients in a small saucepan and simmering gently.
• When the rice is half cooked (about 15 minutes) add the seasonings and coconut cream. Top up with more water as and when necessary.
• When the rice is nearly completely cooked, add the beans and the desiccated coconut.
• Serve with the sauce on the top, accompanied by plenty of plain steamed vegetables for a nutritious dinner.