Midwestern Red Beans and Rice

Long time no blog, eh?

I've been too busy enjoying my California semi-vacation to sit down and write.

But I'm back, baby.  With a vengeance.  And today I have not one, but two delicious recipes for you.

The first one isn't necessarily super-healthy, but it's become a staple in the Loren-Karis household.  I started making red beans and rice during our "poor post-grads" phase.  I'd make a huge pot of it in the beginning of the week, and we'd eat leftovers until Friday.

Red beans and rice with fennel slaw and toasted whole grain bread

My in-laws and I enjoyed our meal this week with a big old jar of sun tea.  (If you've never made it before, it's super-easy.  Just throw some tea bags into a giant container, fill it with cold water and leave it out in the sun for about 4 hours.  I used half green tea and half Tazo passion tea, and it was delicious.  Plus, it's kinda cool to harness the power of the sun to brew your own tea.)

Sunshine in a jar!

Red Beans and Rice (serves 4)
-1.5 cups brown rice
-3 cups water
-1 T olive oil
-1 clove of garlic
-onion
-green pepper
-1/2 package of Andouille sausage (optional -- you can also use other types of sausage or none at all)
-1.5 T cumin
-pinch of cayenne
-salt and pepper
-1 can (about 1.5 cups) kidney beans

Toppings (mix and match whatever you like)
-black olives
-shredded cheddar cheese
-sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
-hot sauce

Prepare your rice.  In a medium saucepan, bring the brown rice and water to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, and then cover with a lid.

Once the rice is about halfway done, mince your garlic and chop the onion and green pepper.   (Note: I'm not a huge onion or green pepper fan, so I usually only use about half of each vegetable and place the rest in a plastic bag for later.)

Heat a large frying pan with oil and saute the garlic, onion and green pepper for 4 minutes.

Chop the sausage into 1/4 inch slices and add into the frying pan.  Add the cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper.  Saute for another 4 minutes.

Rinse and drain the kidney beans and add them into the frying pan.  Cook for 4 minutes.

Sausage and bean mixture

Once the rice is completely cooked, mix it together with the red beans and serve.

Mark is proud of his geraniums and knew this was the only way to get his flowers featured in this blog

You can top your red beans and rice with black olives, sour cream, cheese and/or hot sauce.  Really, whatever floats your boat.  Loren likes to roll it all up into a tortilla and coat it with Tabasco.  You can easily customize the recipe for other types of rice, too.  I've done black beans and rice with spicy turkey sausage, corn, peppers and avocado.  You could also make black-eyed peas and rice with mixed veggies.  The possibilities are pretty endless.