So last night I was lying in bed when I realized that my knuckle hurt. So I put it in my mouth, only to discover it was super spicy! Oh, capsaicin, you sly dog.

Yeah, I apparently need to wash my hands far more thoroughly after chopping up two and a half hot peppers, but what I really want to know is how the capasicin got on the back of my knuckle. Was there some sort of aggressive squirting action that went unnoticed?

Adzuki beans and rice: just like regular red beans and rice!

olive oil
onion
jalapeño, poblano, other hot peppers
green pepper
carrot
celery
cooked adzuki beans
bean broth/other broth
salt, pepper, cumin

Before you start, put your rice on to cook. You can of course use any grain you have lying around, but beans and rice are super heritagenous. I couldn't resist.

Get out a wide, deep sauté pan or at least a 2 quart pot. 3 quart is better. I always make things like this in the sauté pan for faster evaporation and reduction, but you know. Use whatever is big enough.

Ok. Warm a slug of olive oil on medium/medium-low while you peel and dice an onion. Throw the onion into the pot, stir it up, and let it start to soften. Now cut up all the vegetables you want in the finished product, adding them to the pot as you go. I added 1.5 minced jalapeños, a chopped serrano, half a chopped green pepper, two diced carrots, and four diced ribs of celery. Stir to mix as you add things; add a couple pinches of salt, some grinds of black pepper, and several good shakes of cumin. Since I was using so much fresh hot pepper, I didn't need any cayenne or chili powder. This is totally the secret to decent southwestern cooking, you guys: use as much fresh pepper as possible. This amount of hot peppers produced substantial heat in the end product. You can switch them out for something milder, like anaheims, if you're not so into the spice.

When the vegetables have all had a few minutes to sweat together, add in your beans and broth. I had a big pot of previously cooked beans, still in their liquid with their bay leaf, so I threw the entire thing into the vegetables. Probably about two cups of cooked beans and two of broth should be plenty. I had an overabundance of broth, but that was ok; it just meant I had to cook things down longer.

So that's essentially it. Cook the entire business down until everything is hot through and the liquid has evaporated as much as you like. I left mine slightly soupy, for plenty of saucy rice. Taste for seasonings and you're done.

Eat it: put rice in bowl, add bean mix, maybe add some parsley if you're feeling fancy. I had to thin some of the seedlings off my windowsill, so I had parsley. If you want dairy, grating cheese is an excellent idea here. You will notice that I also had cheese.

Leftovers were totally perfect and fast and zero effort with hot sauce and corn tortillas warmed over the open flame. Yes.