Week three of recipe blogs we bring the Stewart’s favorite Haitian Dish: Rice + Beans with Slaw & delicious Creole Sauce!
Kimberly and Michael Stewart live in Austin, Texas with their four children, Wesley-Grant, Sally, Karis, and Kelly. For three years during their adoption process, Kimberly and Michael would travel to Haiti every three months to visit Kelly. The Archibald Project even traveled with them and documented their ninth visit and their airport homecoming!
On September 10, 2013, the Stewarts landed in Austin, TX but this time, not alone. Their adoption was finalized and Kelly was now officially a part of their family.
I arrived at the Stewart’s house to document their cooking routine and could so easily feel the love for one another!
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Kendyle: What is your favorite thing about Haiti?
Kimberly: Their slower lifestyle and rice & beans!
Kendyle: What is your favorite thing to do with Kelly?
Kimberly: Everything is our favorite since we dreamed for so long of doing things with him! But now my favorite thing is cooking with him or reading books!
Kendyle: Why do you desire to keep Kelly’s culture alive and relevant in his life?
Kimberly: Because it is a part of who he is. Kelly’s birth mom and Haitian siblings still live there and we talk about them a lot. We want him to value his culture, even though he is living in another culture because his extended family is still there.
Kendyle: What are some of the ways you incorporate Kelly’s heritage in his daily life?
Kimberly: We say some words in creole, we talk about his birth mom and pray for her and Haiti daily, he has a Haitian flag in his room and sometimes we pull out pictures to look at.
Kendyle: What is something you hope Kelly always knows about his heritage?
Kimberly: That it is good and right. That some of his abilities to have courage and endure is because he is Haitian.
***Recipe below***
Haitian Rice and Beans
(By Soma Wellness by Kimberly Stewart. Kimberly is a professional guide and mentor who empowers ordinary people to take responsibility for their health and support them in making sustainable lifestyle choices every day. To find more of her wellness, please visit here!) ps, not a sponsor, we just love what she does!
Large saucepan or Dutch oven dish
1 can beans per two cup cooked rice
Garlic, onion and green bell pepper
Rice
Water or broth (amount portioned to rice directions )
Salt
1/2 cup of creole sauce (recipe below)
Directions:
- Cover Bottom circumference of dish or big fry pan with oil
- Sauté Garlic, onion and bell pepper in oil until soft
- Add canned pinto beans (drain) and cook until some of oil has gone away…beans will have somewhat of hardness to outside
- Add 3 cups of water(or chicken/veggie broth)..bring to a boil
- Then I add 2 cups of rice and boil, when water boils down, I add vegetable broth and keep adding and cooking it down until rice is ready
- Salt to taste
- Add a bit of creole sauce!
Haitian Creole Sauce
Oil (I use grapeseed oil)
1 can tomato paste
6 cloves of garlic (chopped or minced)
Few slices of onion (sliced thin)
Few slices of green bell pepper (sliced thin)
Water
Salt
Directions:
- Cover the bottom of a saucepan with oil (about 1/2 thick or less)
- Sauté garlic, onions and green bell peppers…once soft, I place a small container of tomato paste & salt
- Stir and cook…add water until consistency you desire
- This is great poured over chicken or spaghetti!
- Note: if you don’t want chunks of onion, garlic and green pepper- I blended the onion, green pepper and garlic (a few slices of onion and peppers and 6 cloves of garlic) in my blender and poured it in the oil then added paste. That was the best batch by far!
- **Creole chicken is simply putting creole sauce on chicken and it does best in crockpot!**
Haitian Picklese
Shredded cabbage
Shredded carrots
Cilantro (optional)
Jalapeño shredded
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar dressing
1/8 cup lemon juice
Directions:
- Chop up cilantro finely
- Place shredded carrots and cabbage in a bowl and top with cilantro (can shred cabbage and carrots or buy bag already shredded or purchase a bag of coleslaw raw)
- Chop up jalapeño and add to the slaw.
- In a small bowl, mix apple cider vinegar dressing and lemon juice well
- Pour over the whole slaw mixture and toss until all is combined
- Enjoy on top of the Haitian rice and beans or on the side. You can chop up mango and mix it in as well or eat on the side for a colorful Haitian meal.
ACV/Olive Oil Salad Dressing
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Salt
Black pepper
Garlic powder
Directions:
- Mix ACV, oil and spices together in glass jar and you are ready to use
- Store in cool, dry place
- Add salt, pepper and garlic to create desired taste
- You can double or triple recipe to make amount of dressing as desired
- You may also mix this at a smaller ratio to use immediately on salads.
