Oh baby, when your pantry speaks to you, you just have to listen, and inspiration was practically yelling at me this afternoon when I suddenly became inspired to create a dish that I could truly taste long before the first ingredient even hit the counter.

To be completely honest, my inspiration began earnestly a few days earlier while making my rounds at the bulk barn, it had been some time since I paid the wide variety of rices any respect and so I could not help but indulge in some nutty red wild rice, a hearty brown basmati and some mini black turtle beans … rice and beans, but with no national boundaries … I had a plan and I was going to see it through no matter how many flags I had to unfurl … or burn haha!

After soaking the black beans over night, I simmered them for a couple hours till they were just tender. Boiled my brown and red rices to perfection and reserved the bean water to prepare my white basmati and turn it black … well, darker than the brown basmati anyway.

I heated up a spicy roux in a saute pan using olive oil, tandoori marsala, cayenne pepper, quinoa flour, brown sugar and curry powder then slowly thickened with a generous helping of home made vegetable broth, yum!

Simmering the black beans in my spicy sauce as it reduced, I zested and juiced a lime, chopped a couple scallions and added these to proportionate mix of each of my 3 fun rices.

Peeled and seeded some roma tomatoes, then peeled & diced some kiwis, tossed them with the now thick and aromatic bean mixture and served immediately to get that slight contrast of hot & spicy with little pockets of cold & sweet … I have to say, this was a thoroughly enjoyable meal and would make it again without hesitation … go go rice n beans!