Apparently, there are still people who don't know what I will call "the universal cheap dinner recipe"...
So called, because basically every culture on earth does some variant of this as a staple... or several variants as multiple staples...
Part 1. Pick one (or more than one)... Thick cut bacon, spicy sausage, smoked sausage, spicy ham, smoked ham, or salted ham. Diced and sautéed until rendered and crispy (amounts are up to you... what balance of meat to rice to beans), then put aside. If you don't have enough fat, add butter. You can also add chicken or turkey chunks, pork chunks, beef chunks, lamb chunks, or ground meat for additional protein.
Part 2. Onions, red and green peppers, chilis, canned rotel, tomato chunks, zucchini chunks, squash chunks, peas, corn, carrot pieces, "mixed veggies"... whatever you like. Even kale, broccoli, or broccoli raab. Sautee in the hot rendered fat until NOT QUITE done, then put aside with the meat. You want to do this separately from the meat because the veggies have so much liquid, they will tend to steam the meat instead of brown render and crisp it. Again, if you don't have enough fat, add butter.
Part 3. Your preferred rice, approximately equal volume to the rest before adding liquid. Sautéed in the hot fat until toasted and nutty brown. If you don't have enough fat, add butter.
Part 4. Red, black, white, Brown, navy, pinto, or kidney beans; either soaked overnight, canned, or parcooked beforehand (or you can pressure cook the whole thing, or just cook the beans for longer before adding rice). If you have to parcook, or cook them longer, then you'll want to simmer them separately in your flavorful liquid before adding them to the rest. Otherwise, sautee them in the hot fat for a bit before adding your flavorful liquid.
Part 5. Add flavorful liquid composed of a meat broth... chicken works... an acid like vinegar, wine, hot sauce, lemon juice, orange juice etc... salt, and umami builders (fermented hot sauce, Worcester shire sauce, soy sauce, fermented fish sauce etc... you can also add hard dry cheese or cheese rinds for additional flavor and umami). If you want more body, you can add dairy... half and half, cream, milk, cream cheese, or yogurt.
Simmer until rice and beans have absorbed half the liquid, then toss in the reserved meat and veggies. Then simmer until the rice and beans are at final tenderness.
If you like, add in frozen seafood chunks or shelled and deveined shrimp at your last toss in stage.
It's the universal cheap and easy recipe. Mix and match as you like. Add in ethnic cuisine specific spices and sauces to make it more mexican, more asian, more Indian etc...
It also works for barley, lentils, chickpeas, quinoa, pearled bulgur (cous cous) etc...
Do mostly that and let it cook out and get a nice crusty edge and rind on on side of a flat pan, and you've got paella.
Remove the beans and rice, and add cubed potatoes, and you have Peruvian or Indian dishes depending on which spice mix you add.
Remove the beans and rice, and you can make it a pasta dish. You can also serve it over plain or flavored rice, pasta, or cooked potatoes.
Pull the rice and beans, and add in a chunk of cream cheese, some hard Italian cheese, and a little half and half, and you have an amazing creamy sauce to serve over pasta, potatoes, or rice.
Same thing but yogurt or sour cream... Indian or Hungarian style.
Add in a bunch of ground beef, turkey, or chicken, and you've got burrito or taco filling... or shepherds pie etc...
Stuff it in shells and cover it with cheese then bake it, and voila stuffed shells.
Stuff it in pastry dough and bake it, pasties.
Stuff it in a pie and bake it, and you've got pot pie.
Add in potato chunks and cook it til it's mostly dry and crispy on one side, it's hash.
Cook the rice separately, THEN sautee the rice in hod fat, toss in the meat, and crack a couple eggs in there, and you've got fried rice.
Add more liquid, chiles, cumin, and beans, and remove the rice, and you have chili bean stew.
Add more liquid and leave in the rice, and you have soup.
Leave out the meat, and add more beans, and some soy (particularly fermented soy for umami) or TVP or other veggie protein, and it's loose vegetarian. Substitute vegetable broth, and its strict vegetarian. Substitute vegan broth, fat, etc... and it's vegan.
Every part is optional or substitutable, so long as you have four basic components (and one optional):
1. Hot flavorful fat.
2. Hot flavorful acidic liquid.
3. A starch or legume (or possibly both. Complete proteins are appreciated).
4. A protein.
5. Texture and flavor accents, like veggies.
