Last month, Laura Clawson put up a diary: What pandemic-inspired changes to your life aren’t going away even if or when COVID-19 does? I found the comments really interesting, and I could relate to a number of them. It also caused me to reflect a bit. Having been fully vaccinated since March, my life has gradually moved toward something resembling “normal.” It took a while, but I’m no longer afraid to go out to eat, and I’m even going back to the gym. But there are some things that have changed—and that, I suspect, will be with me for a long time.
Most of these things are related to food or cooking. And I’m not alone, based on this Allrecipes piece on how the pandemic has changed home cooking (also a very interesting read). For example, the pandemic necessity of limiting my time at the grocery store means that I now do huge grocery hauls instead of stopping by every day to pick one or two things up. I am obsessive about making sure I’m stocked up on kitchen necessities, even though I fully understand that there are no longer shortages—it’s like the wiring in my brain has changed to the point where I chronically fear running low on things. I remind myself a little of my Depression survivor grandmother, whose food purchasing habits I never really understood until now (to be clear, COVID-19 is not the Great Depression and my experiences are not hers, but I see a kind of parallel here, and I wonder if my hypothetical future grandchildren will notice these things about me, or if I’ll still be holding onto them by then). While early on in the pandemic, many of us (myself included) experimented with baking or other high-effort cooking endeavors, that quickly wore off and I became much more concerned with convenience. I blame the mental funk I was in for much of 2020, which sapped my motivation to do much of anything, much less cook complicated meals. Finding ways to cut corners and still be somewhat healthy became a priority. More canned goods, more frozen ingredients, easier one-pan recipes.
I even added a new dish or two to my repertoire, specifically inspired by the pandemic. And that leads me to what’s for dinner. I’m going to profile my favorite pandemic dish in tonight’s diary: what Chef John from Foodwishes calls “The Best Baked Beans and Rice,” but what I sometimes just call “Pandemic Rice.” I think I like his name better (it’s more appetizing, anyway). But this dish—so easy, one-pan, relying on pandemic staples such as rice and canned beans—has made it onto my regular rotation, and I’m sure that will be the case for years to come. Click here for the full recipe, or you can watch the video:
I need to emphasize something about this dish. Consider this a starter recipe. You can make it just like you see above, and it will be delicious as a side or even as a vegetarian main. It’s truly perfect as-is. I would just note that you should use a good salsa, because that matters for the quality of the end product.
However, I am not a vegetarian, and as mentioned above, I have little interest in complicated meals for myself with multiple components and side dishes. I want some meat and veggies, too, and I want it to all be in one pan. So I have made a number of adjustments to this recipe—in fact, it changes a little bit every time I make it. It always starts the same, though, in that I make it exactly like Chef John makes it in the video. But here is what I personally like to add after it’s done baking:
- I typically add rotisserie chicken meat. Here in Texas, HEB sells some delicious rotisserie chickens. My personal favorite is lemon pepper. I usually get a whole lemon pepper chicken and shred it myself. Aside from being higher quality than the pre-shredded convenience meat, I find the process of shredding a rotisserie chicken therapeutic. Is that weird? The meat from an entire chicken is just enough for this pan of rice.
- I like to add some kind of vegetable, usually some combination of peas, carrots, and corn. This is a pandemic meal, so I don’t particularly want to chop vegetables. HEB sells a frozen blend of peas, carrots, and corn, so a bag of that is perfect. I thaw it out while the rice is baking.
- If you like it, cilantro is a good addition at the end. I also like to squeeze in some lime juice.
- I’ve tried so many other things in this. Sometimes I want to put in something “funky” or pickled. I’ve chopped up actual dill pickles (that wasn’t that great). I’ve added olives (not bad, but kind of out of place here). I’ve chopped pickled jalapeños and added those (much better). If I have other pickled vegetables, I’ll sometimes try them out. Like I said, this dish changes a little every time I make it.
The point is, you can eat it as-is (again, it’s pretty much perfect) or you can doctor it up as much as you want. One recommendation: If you add a bunch of other things like I do, you will want to use a very large pan for this. I buy the extra large disposable baking pans for when I make this rice. Just bake it normally, and then add whatever you want and pop it back in the oven long enough to warm everything through.
Here is my last pan, which I’m still working my way through (this makes great meal prep, btw):
Don’t judge me, but this is how I like to eat mine: covered in Mexican sour cream with a very generous serving of pickled jalapeño slices.
What’s for dinner at your place?
What’s for Dinner? is a Saturday evening get-together where friends share recipes, talk about good food and help others answer culinary questions.
We welcome you to our virtual table every Saturday evening 4:30 PT/7:30 ET. If you would like to write a post for an upcoming date just send a message to ninkasi23!