Sweetcorn, Black Bean & Tomato Rice

Ingredients

• 400 g black beans, drained and rinsed
• 250 g long grain rice, rinsed
• 400 g chopped tomatoes
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 500 ml vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150 g sweetcorn
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• 75 g cheddar, grated
• 15g coriander, chopped
• Crusty bread, to serve
• Rocket and seed salad, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large lidded pan over a medium heat. Add the red onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring now and then, until softened, translucent and just starting to catch at the edges.
2. Stir in the garlic, smoked paprika and ground cumin. Bloom the spices in the oil for 30–60 seconds until fragrant — raw spices taste dusty, bloomed spices taste of themselves. Watch the garlic: 30 seconds, no more, or it turns bitter and takes the whole dish with it.
3. Tip in the rinsed rice and stir for a minute so every grain is slicked in the spiced oil — this is what stops the rice clumping later.
4. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and the vegetable stock — the stock is what breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit, not tin. Season generously with salt and black pepper and bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Cover and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes, until the rice is almost tender and most of the liquid has been drunk up. Don't lift the lid before 12 minutes — you'll lose the steam that's doing the work.
6. Scatter the sweetcorn and black beans over the top, cover again and cook for a further 4–5 minutes until heated through and the rice is fully tender. Fork them through gently — too much stirring turns the grains gluey.
7. Off the heat, add the lime zest and a good squeeze of lime juice. Taste, season, taste again — adjust now, not at the table. The acid lifts everything you've just built.
8. Scatter the grated cheddar and chopped coriander over the rice so the cheese melts into pools, then serve straight from the pan with crusty bread alongside and a pile of rocket and seed salad on each plate.