
This Year My New Year’s Bean Dish Was Red Beans and Rice!
This year for my New Years’ bean dish, I cooked red beans and rice! I usually go with pinto beans because I love them, or the traditional black-eyed peas. Because I had a two-pound bag of red beans in my pantry, I decided, why not! I mean, beans are beans and I already had a bag of red beans that my sister had given me. I checked out a couple of recipes and found that other than adding a few veggies (celery, onion and green pepper) and using andouille sausage, everything else is the same. Pick through the beans, soak overnight, rinse, and cook. Just like you do all dry beans.
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!
I was so surprised when I tasted these beans! They were absolutely delicious! First of all, I sauteed the celery, onion and green pepper and added chicken base to the water. I cooked the beans about 3 – 3 1/2 hours until they were perfectly cooked and tender. I sliced and sauteed the andouille and added it to the cooking beans at about the half-way point. In other words, I didn’t start the cooking process with the meat in the pot the way I do when I’m using smoked turkey or hocks. I waited until the beans had cooked about 2 hours before I added the andouille.
A Trip to Flavor Town
Ok, I know that motto belongs to Guy Fieri but we all take trips to flavor town. I personally try to take a trip whenever I can! If you fix red beans and rice, you’ll be packing your utensils for a trip to flavor town too! As I said earlier, they are absolutely delicious! Because I was raised in southwestern Pennsylvania, red beans weren’t available locally in the grocery stores. To get red beans even now, I have to order them online or I might find them at Trader Joes or Whole Foods. If you live in the South, especially in Louisiana, where red beans and rice is as celebrated a dish as gumbo, they can be found everywhere!
I paired the red beans with white rice! Oh course we served this dish with piping hot, buttermilk, biscuits! Yummy for your tummy, for real!
Options
Red beans and rice can be served with an additional meat option like pork, fish or chicken. Don’t forget the hot buttered biscuits with sweet potato butter! Add a tossed salad and enjoy!