Red Beans and Rice are a New Orleans tradition. They are supposed to be prepared on Mondays, while doing laundry. But they taste just as good on any other day and even better the day after. Traditionally, the dish is prepared using ham hocks and andouille sausage, but vegan red beans are just as satisfying to your appetite and even more satisfying to your conscience.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and the Saints are playing the Colts. So I made red beans yesterday to bring to our vegan potluck today. Here is the recipe…

Ingredients

• 1 pound bag of dry small red beans
• 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic or 1 small head of garlic
• 2 small yellow onions
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ribs celery
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Soak the beans overnight. Rinse in the morning and sort to remove hard beans, rocks, or other foreign particles.
2. Put the beans in a large soup pot and cover them with water. There should be a couple inches of water above level of beans. Add the liquid smoke and bay leaves. Turn it up to high heat and cover the pot with the lid. Let this cook for about an hour or so, boiling. Then turn the heat down to medium and uncover.
3. Peel the garlic and chop finely in a food processor. Peal and quarter the onions. Add a half cup of water and the onions. Chop well.
4. Heat a large frying pan on high. Lightly coat with olive oil. Add the garlic and onion mixture, stir with a wooden spoon and bring the heat to medium.
5. While that’s cooking, chop the celery and green pepper in the food processor. When the onions turn translucent, add the celery and bell pepper, plus the thyme, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Heat on medium till warm. Add the mixture to the beans. Stir well.
6. Remove 1 cup of beans and blend in the food processor or in a blender. Put them back into the pot with the beans and mix well. Continue cooking all of this on low-medium for a few hours, checking every half hour or so to stir. The water should be evaporating, but if too much evaporates, add more water to keep the beans from sticking to the bottom.
7. When the beans are breaking apart on their own, taste them. Add more seasonings or salt if you like. Authentic New Orleans red beans and rice should be “warm” not super spicy, but make them how you like. Prepare some white rice.
8. When the rice is done, give the beans a final good stir and serve them over the rice with some green beans on the side or a slice of cornbread.

Optional:

• Add chopped green onions with the other vegetables. Or add red bell peppers for more color.
• Serve with brown rice instead of white.
• Add vegan sausage to the beans. Chop into half inch sections and lightly pan fry it. Add the sausage at the last half hour or so before serving.
• Don’t serve immediately. Wait a day, reheat them, and serve them then.

Sections: Vegan Food
Topics: Food, new orleans, nolo, red beans, saints, Vegan