hello! I'm Belizean American myself Miss Kaeli. We have a slight variation to this recipe in my family, adding a little chopped cilantro and we use the green peppers not the red peppers that your recipe calls for. I find the red peppers to be sweet whereas the green peppers add a bit of depth to the flavor profile. But I love your recipe offered because it specifies Carolina rice and every Belizean I know sticks to that brand!
I took it a different direction because I was worried it would be bland. I used chicken broth instead of water, added cumin, turamic, more liquid to the cooking rice, and added chicken (but the chicken wasn't really necessary). Next time I'll try the other reviewers suggestion and add cilantro.
Made it to go with Belizean stew chicken, but without the sweet pepper (either red or green) because my teenage boys don't love pepper. I did add just a bit of dried thyme. We just got back from a trip to Belize a couple of weeks ago, having eaten this dish several times while we were there.
Those who are thinking this dish is bland, well -- that's because it IS. It's supposed to be! It's meant to be eaten with other items which might be highly seasoned, not as a stand-alone. While the addition of garlic and coconut milk is delicious, it's subtle, and the rice-and-beans benefited from some added thyme and a grind of fresh pepper after cooking.
This was yummy and easy to make!
This was really fantastic. I read the reviews and expected something really bland so I have some chutneys and salsas ready, but it was perfect as it. I can wait to go to Belize!
It's missing flavor. It needs to be tweaked.
Do you part cook the rice in water first then lightly fry and add coconut milk? I am a little confused. I think I followed the instructions wrong as it was a little too soft and rich.
It's my own fault for not reading the recipe closely enough. I didn't catch on to the fact that the beans would be cooking with the rice so they were overdone.
Very delicious and filling. I baked some chicken thighs, seasoned with Cuban seasoning and salt in a cast iron skillet, chopped and added it to the beans. It’s great served with iron skillet corn bread.