Happy first day of Summer y’all! My absolute favorite season! Of course, Spring is beautiful with everything blooming and becoming green, but my gosh it messes with my allergies. I know a lot of people really love Fall with its beautiful colors and all of that, but for me it’s just a harbinger of what’s around the corner…Winter. Which I detest. With a passion. Summer’s definitely the time for me. Long, warm days with plenty of time for relaxing, cooking, reading, having a picnic, growing veggies, and all the other things that make it my favorite season.
The only little tiny thing I might not enjoy about summer is when it gets just a teeny bit too hot to want to turn on the oven. On those days, I like to make a supper that can be cooked quickly and on the stovetop only. And if it’s a one-pot meal then all the better. This Black Beans with Rice and Ham fits both those bills…a stovetop, one-pot meal. Just add salad and bread and you’re all set.
There are so many recipes from around the world that use the basic ingredients of beans and rice. There’s the famous New Orleans red beans and rice (which is absolutely delicious) and there are dozens of recipes for Mexican beans and rice along with many from the Caribbean as well. Most of those recipes do not include any meat and you could prepare this recipe without the ham if you wanted a vegetarian option. I also like to include tomatoes in my mixture as I think it rounds out the flavors nicely. Add in or leave out whatever you want to make it your own recipe. That’s what cooking should be all about, right?
Start by chopping the vegetables. The onion, red bell pepper, and celery should be about the same size pieces so that they’ll cook in approximately the same time. Just mince or crush the garlic.
In a large, deep skillet heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic, red bell pepper, and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Add the thyme, tomatoes, beans, ham, salt, black pepper, oregano, and Tabasco. Stir well.
I love that I can buy this cubed ham at my local grocery store and keep it on hand for when I need it in a recipe. It comes in this 1/2-inch dice and also a much smaller dice. I put it in soups and stews and it’s also great for omelets! It’s one of those convenience products that I wouldn’t want to do without any more.
Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook 30-40 minutes or until the beans are tender. While the beans are cooking, prepare the rice.
In a medium saucepan, bring the water, salt, and butter to a boil. Add the rice, stir and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until rice is tender – about 20 minutes.
Serve the bean mixture over hot, fluffy rice. Be sure to remove the thyme stems before serving.
Garnish with a drizzle of red wine vinegar and your choice of fresh chopped tomatoes, chopped fresh chives, salsa, and/or sour cream.
Enjoy!
Black Beans and Rice with Ham
Ingredients
For the beans:
- 2 tblsp. olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 4-5 stalks fresh thyme
- 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
- 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- 8 oz. diced cooked ham
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 8-10 shakes Tabasco sauce
For the rice:
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tblsp. butter
- 1 cup rice
For garnish:
- Red wine vinegar
- Chopped fresh tomatoes
- Chopped chives
- Salsa
- Sour cream
Instructions
- In a large, deep skillet heat the olive oil over medium high heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, red bell pepper, and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are crisp-tender.
- Add the thyme, tomatoes, beans, ham, salt, black pepper, oregano, and Tabasco. Stir well. Reduce the heat to low and cook 30-40 minutes or until the beans are tender.
- While the beans are cooking, prepare the rice.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the water, salt, and butter to a boil. Add the rice, stir and bring back to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until rice is tender - about 20 minutes.
- Serve the bean mixture over rice. Remove the thyme stems before serving.
- Garnish with a drizzle of red wine vinegar and your choice fresh chopped tomatoes, chopped fresh chives, salsa, and/or sour cream.
Notes
For a vegetarian option, omit the cubed ham.
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Other bean and rice recipes you might enjoy from around the internet:
- Black Beans and Rice from The Perfect Pantry
- Beans and Rice Salad from Eclectic Recipes
- Jamaican Rice and Peas from Simply Recipes
- Lighter Red Beans and Rice from Iowa Girl Eats
- Slow Cooker Black Beans and Rice from 5 Dollar Dinners
- Mexican Beans and Rice from Eat at Home
What I was up to…
- One year ago: Coke Floats and Vidalia Onion Gratin
- Two years ago: Refrigerator Pickles and Savory Pork Chops
- Three years ago: Riding the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway
- Four years ago: Old-Fashioned Cornbread
I’ve been looking for a Beans and Rice recipe! Yours sounds delicious! =)
Thanks for sharing!
So glad you found a recipe, Melissa. Hope you enjoy it!
This sounds wonderful Lana! A great weeknight meal too, thanks!
Yep, Amanda…great for a weeknight. Quick and easy!
We did not grow up with this…. yet, I make it, and nearly the same. At our house, it’s a veggie meal, and often topped with sour cream, cheese and salsa.
Thanks!
Miss P
I very often make it without the ham as well. I like it so much because it’s hearty without being heavy. Plus it’s dirt cheap :-)
My mom wouldn’t serve beans, but now that I’ve grown up and finally learned to prepare them various ways, I love ’em (and now with the economy and all, that ‘dirt cheap’ aspect of beans is callin’ to my husband’s pocket books more than he’d like to have to admit). — In the past, black beans in our home included ginger and such, and were topped with mango or banana salsa, yellow rice, toasted coconut and chopped green onions, as a side of rice and beans, -or- were brazenly slipped into a black bean and corn tortilla casserole. But I’ve never served them with a load of refreshing tomatoes so beautifully presented like yours…, not *yet* anyway. I can hardly wait! While men have dug into beans in my home and then looked at their wives with it clearly written on their faces, “Now, why have our beans never tasted like these ones?” somehow, I never made them look quite so lovely as yours, Lana! Not nearly so! I guess I’ve got a lot of grace to learn from lovely ladies like yourself! Thanks so much for sharin’! Yum!
Thanks so much for your comment, Rainah! We enjoy beans in all kinds of recipes here and this is one of our favorites. I hope your family likes it, too.
I came across this recipe last night (searched black beans and ham, food items I needed to use up) and happened to have everything on hand. I’ve never had beans and rice and my kids are picky about peppers and celery. So, I was unsure if it would be a flop. I made the recipe exactly as stated except I added on extra can of black beans, used half a red pepper and half a yellow and doubled the ham to make sure it would feed 7, which it did with a little leftover. Surprisingly, everyone but my pickiest of picky kids loved it! We served with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, chopped tomatoes and cilantro. SO GOOD! I’ll be making this again. Thank you very much for a great recipe!
I’m so pleased that your family liked the recipe, Christina! I haven’t made this one in a while and your comment was a good reminder to me of how much we enjoy this dish.
Looks great! Do you think it would freeze OK? Its just the two of us. Thanks!
I haven’t frozen it myself, but I would think you could. There’s really nothing in it that doesn’t freeze well.