Red Beans and Rice-Cajun Style

Red Beans and Rice –Southern Living

Stovetop Red Beans and Rice

Southern Living MARCH 2011

Yield: Makes about 10 cups (serving size: about 1 cup bean mixture and 1 cup rice)

Total: 2 Hours, 45 Minutes

Ingredients

1 pound dried red kidney beans

1/2 pound Aidells Cajun style Andouille sausage, thinly sliced

3 celery ribs, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 teaspoons Creole/Cajun seasoning (sodium 65mg per 1/4 tsp)

3 cups uncooked long-grain rice

Garnish: sliced green onions

Preparation

1. Place beans in a Dutch oven; add water 2 inches above beans. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute; cover, remove from heat, and soak 1 hour. Drain.

2. Sauté sausage and next 3 ingredients in Dutch oven over medium-high heat 10 minutes or until sausage is browned. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add beans, Creole seasoning, and 7 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender.

3. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions. Serve with red bean mixture. Garnish, if desired.

Note: We tested with Aidells Organic Fully Cooked Cajun Style Andouille Smoked  Sausage.

Try These Twists!

Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice: Omit chicken sausage. Prepare recipe as directed in Step 1. Coarsely chop celery, green bell pepper, onion, and 1 red bell pepper. Sauté chopped vegetables and garlic in 1 Tbsp. hot olive oil 6 to 8 minutes or until tender. Stir together vegetables, beans, Creole seasoning, 1 tsp. smoked paprika, 1 vegetable bouillon cube, and 7 cups water in Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer as directed. Season with salt to taste. Serve with rice. Makes: 10 cups.

Per serving (about 1 cup bean mixture and 1 cup rice): Calories 373; Fat 1.1g (sat .03g, mono 0.2g, poly 0.3g); Protein 15.4g; Carb 74.9g; Fiber 11.6g; Chol 0mg; Iron 5.2mg; Sodium 377mg; Calc 81mg.

Quick Red Beans and Rice: Substitute 2 (16-oz.) cans light kidney beans, drained and rinsed, for dried beans. Reduce Creole seasoning to 2 tsp. Prepare recipe as directed in Step 2, substituting 2 cups low-sodium fat-free chicken broth for 7 cups water and simmering 20 minutes. Serve with rice. Makes: about 7 cups.

Per serving (about 1 cup bean mixture and 1 cup rice): Calories 420; Fat 3.5g (sat 1g, mono 0.2g, poly 0.2g); Protein 19.7g; Carb 76.3g; Fiber 13g; Chol 35mg; Iron 1.1mg; Sodium 490mg; Calc 65mg.

Slow-cooker Red Beans and Rice: Omit Steps 1 and 2. Stir together first 7 ingredients and 7 cups water in a 4-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 7 hours or until beans are tender. Serve with rice. Makes: about 10 cups.

Per serving (about 1 cup bean mixture and 1 cup rice): Calories 397; Fat 2.3g (sat 0.8g, mono 0.2g, poly 0.3g); Protein 18.9g; Carb 74.4g; Fiber 11.3g; Chol 24mg; Iron 5.6mg; Sodium 319mg; Calc 99mg.

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

Calories: 397  Fat: 2.3g  Saturated fat: 0.8g  Monounsaturated fat: 0.2g  Polyunsaturated fat: 0.3g  Protein: 18.9g Carbohydrate: 74.4g  Fiber: 11.3g  Cholesterol: 24mg  Iron: 5.6mg  Sodium: 319mg  Calcium: 99mg

Reward Bars

A friend shared this recipe with us, and we love it! You can find the original source here. I make them ahead of time, and then Ben and I have a quick and easy go-to breakfast that keeps us feeling full until lunchtime. Here is the recipe: REWARD BARS *makes 5 bars 1 cup oats 1/3 cup vanilla protein powder 1/2 cup natural peanut butter 1/4 cup honey 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed Mix all ingredients together. Divide into 5 equal parts and shape into bars (crumbliness goes away when you start to shape into a bar). Store in ziploc bags in the fridge or freezer. For added variety, add in coconut flakes, fruit, chopped nuts, or mini chocolate chips. The great thing about this, is you can use other nut butters and they are so good! I've made the bars with hazelnut butter, almond butter, pecan butter and cashew butter. These butters are expensive in the stores, but you can make them yourself by grinding them in a food processor for about 5-10 minutes. That way, you can also control how much, if any, oil you want to add, which decreases the amount of calories. So, so yummy! Enjoy!

GG's Corn Chowder

2 cups boiling water

2 cups chopped potatoes

½ cup carrot slices

½ cup celery slices

¼ cup chopped onion

1 ½ tsp salt

¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

17 oz can cream style corn

¼ tsp pepper

Boil water.  Add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, or until cooked.  In a separate pan, make a white sauce with margarine, flour and milk. Add to vegetables in water, along with a can of corn.  Mix well.  Heath through and serve.

Chicken Rolls

2 pkg crescent rolls                         1-8 ozpkg cream cheese, softened
(16 triangles of dough).                   1/4 cup chopped green onion
4 cups cooked diced chicken.          1/4 cup chopped mushrooms-optional
1/4 cup chopped celery.                   may add choppednutsinside
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix above ingredients together.  Separate triangles and stretch.  Put a large scoop of chicken filling in each triangle.  Fold and roll them shut.

1pkg stuffing or crumb mixture
1/2cup nuts
1/4 cup melted butter
Mix dry ingredients & nuts. Roll the rolls in melted butter and then dry mixture and place on cookie sheet.  Repeat.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.  Serve with rice and chicken gravy.

Cornbread

This is the cornbread that we had at Matt and Heather's

My kids loved it, so I had to have the recipe.

Thanks Heather!

1 cube butter (recipe calls for 1 C, but I've NEVER used that much)

1 C sugar

4 eggs

1 4-oz can green chilies, seeded and chopped (my kids don't like spicy- so I never put these in)

1 16-oz can cream-style corn

1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

1 c flour

1 c yellow corn meal

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

directions: cream butter and sugar.  add eggs, one at a time.  add chilies, corn, and cheese.  mix well. add dry ing and blend well.  pour into greased 9x13 pan.  place into an oven preheated to 350, but immediately reduce heat to 300.  bake 1 hour (although mine is normally ready after 45 min- so check around then).

Strawberry Jam

4 cups crushed berries

2 cups water

1 small pkg strawberry Kool-Aid

1 pkg MCP pectin

Bring to boil and add about 7 1/2 cups sugar.  Bring to rolling boil and cook 3 minutes or until it has thick drips off your wooden spoon. Add about tablespoon of butter to help cut down frost on top, carefully remove excess frost with a metal spoon.  Pour into clean glass canning jars, wipe top of jar clean, put on hot lids and rings. Turn upside down for about half hour then turn right side up and listen for the 'bings' which means it is sealed.

BLT Salad

Doesn't this look super yummy?

We had this salad over at some friends' house a few months ago. Holy cow! This salad is one of the best salads I have ever had. I had to get the recipe and I had to share it. It is so good and so simple. We have since made it for several other people, who all raved about it. It has bacon in it, but you don't need salad dressing. Seriously. The juices all just mingle together in an ever so pleasant flavor, creating its own natural "dressing."

Amounts are pretty much premised on the proportions you prefer. Just Guesstimate.
Lettuce (any kind works - we even had it on spinach and it was good!)
Feta cheese (Apetina brand - 1/2 container)
Pine nuts (toasted)
Cherry tomatoes (sliced in half or quarters)
Bacon cubes (cooked)

I hope you enjoy it!