How do you do, fellow preppers?
I'm wondering if anybody has resources on what to do to make rice and beans and other dried/canned foods more interesting. Both in scenarios where supply lines haven't collapsed and you might have access to, say, fresh onions... and in scenarios where you're in full lockdown and all you have is the spices on your shelf.
Beans:
Slow cooker, pressure cooker, or just in a pot of water, saltpork/bacon depending on how apocalyptic it's gotten(still good with out meat). I prefer Pinto beans, with black beans as good for a little variety. I put in a half an onion, half a bell pepper(dried/granulated if in full bunker mode), seasoning is going to be to your tastes but I suggest more than you'd think. Cornstarch can be used to thicken. I'm of the opinion you can't over due the garlic(fresh or granulated). Oregano, cumin, fennel, pepper,
salt. Melt cheese into it afterwards, then refry the leftovers in a skillet with a little oil and just mashing them up.
Rice:
Pressure cooker or double boil. You can actually do a lot to get a different flavor to rice. I prefer Basmati rice(if Costco still has it, their 15 lbs bag of aged Basmati is superb). Equal parts liquid to rice. Add some chicken stock, soy sauce & savory leaf, Cajun/Creole seasoning, or rosemary & basil(substituting the water if you use a liquid component, last time I made rice I did ~7/8 cup of water, 1/8 cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of rice) to get a different style. Frozen peas thawed in the steamer basket of the pressure coocker, or in a pyrex bowl in place of the lid on a double boiler I think is a good compliment, but I'm weird in really enjoying peas. La Choy dried in a can Chow Mein noodles are great to add in for some crunch.
Stores with a bulk section like whole foods or sprouts let you buy these in relatively large quantity for not a lot(I can get a wide variety good enough for a few months for less than 10 dollars). Their are some tastes I do not care for that can probably you may enjoy(I've never had a taste for curry/spicy, I'm big on the savory). Smoked salt and pepper can be pricey, but goes a long way to add a nice flavor. I prefer leaf oregano, leaf rosemary, whole fennel, ground cumin, black caraway seed, roasted granulated garlic(better than powder IMHO), savory leaf, Lawry's Seasoned Pepper. Soy sauce can be got in bulk, you can get a variety too, dark, dark red, properly aged shoyu(expensive).
