Rice, Beans, and Chard

We made this dish, for our Slow Food collaboration dinner, with Carolina Gold Rice and Sea Island Red Beans sourced from Anson Mills in South Carolina. We now make it regularly with our dried Jacob's Cattle beans, which are slightly larger and extremely tasty.

Ingredients

1 cup rice

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

1 cup dried beans, like black or Jacob's Cattle

1 bunch chard

2 lemons, zest and juice

1/2 cup olive oil

Method

Soak the beans over night if possible. If cooking from dry, it will just take a bit more time and water.
Slice the onion and garlic thinly.
In a large pot over low heat, sweat the onion and garlic in a glug of olive oil until soft but not browned.
Add the (drained) beans and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook until tender. When cooked add 2 tsp salt and allow to cool.
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and cook the rice as you would pasta until tender then drain.
Slice the chard (stems and all) into ribbons and combine with the lemon zest, juice, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt.
Place the rice in a serving dish, top with the beans and a ladle full of the bean cooking liquid, top with the chard salad, and serve.