Easy Red Beans and Rice
As a Louisiana girl, I consider slow-cooked red beans and rice part of my cultural heritage, as much a part of my childhood as climbing too high in the live oak trees and eating watermelon at the picnic table in the back yard. I know from experience that it takes all day to make good red beans, and I would never try to convince you otherwise
The trouble is, I get cravings. I start remembering the spicy, creamy red beans of my childhood and I want some–right now. But red beans is not a spur-of-the-moment, impulse kind of dish.
Easy Red Beans and Rice
In traditional recipes, long slow cooking breaks down the beans and gives them their creamy texture. I shorten that cooking time by using pre-cooked red beans and pureeing half of them in the food processor. The food processor also shortens the time it takes to chop the vegetables that give New Orleans red beans their characteristic flavor.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Louisiana, Southern
Keyword vegan red beans and rice
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 6
Ingredients
1 medium onion
1/2 green pepper
2 ribs celery
3 cloves garlic
3 15-ounce cans red beans (no sugar added) drained and well-rinsed
1 15-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt optional or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 - 1 teaspoon red pepper cayenne, to taste
2 teaspoons hot sauce plus more to serve
Smoked salt or Liquid Smoke seasoning (optional)
cooked brown rice to serve
Instructions
Begin heating a large, non-stick pot over medium-high heat as you use the food processor to chop the vegetables:
Cut the onion into quarters and pulse it in the food processor to mince; add it to the heated pan. Cut the pepper into quarters and chop it finely in the processor; add it to the pan. Cut the celery into 2-inch long pieces and chop it and the garlic in the processor; add it to the pan.
Stir the vegetables well and add 2 tablespoons of water. Cook until soft, about 6-10 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, rinse the beans well. Put half of them (1 1/2 cans) into the food processor with half of the can of tomatoes. Process until all the beans are coarsely chopped, just short of pureed.
When the vegetables are soft, stir in the blended beans, remaining whole beans, remaining tomatoes, and all seasonings except smoked salt. Cover tightly, reduce heat to very low, and cook for at least 30 minutes. Stir every 5 or 10 minutes and add water as needed to keep beans moist but not soupy. Like regular red beans, these taste better the longer they cook, so consider 30 minutes the bare minimum and cook them longer if you can, adding water as necessary.
Just before serving, sprinkle with smoked salt or a little Liquid Smoke. Stir well, and serve atop rice with more hot sauce on the table.
Notes
Nutrition information excludes salt and rice, uses salted red beans.
Most of the sodium is from the beans and fire-roasted tomatoes; using unsalted products will reduce the sodium greatly.
Without the rice, the beans are zero points on Weight Watchers Freestyle program.