Beans and Rice is one of the most versatile and hearty dishes one could make. Use this recipe as a guide and create your own dish.
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Heat the oil in a large braiser or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion and celery. Cook stirring occasionally for 4 minutes. (If you are using a non-roasted pepper, add with the onion and celery).
Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Taste. If the rice isn't quite done, add 1/4 cup hot water, cover and cook another 2 minutes. Let set for 5 minutes.
Beans - You can used just about any type of beans for this bean, rice and sausage dish. I've used pintos, black beans, red beans, navy beans, cranberry beans, and a few others. Just precook the beans in some stock with some simple seasoning before adding to the dish or use leftover beans.
Variations of Beans and Sausage:
For smoked sausage, saute for only 2 minutes after sauteing the vegetables. It’s already cooked and if you saute it too long, it can dry it out and make it tough. For raw sausage or mushrooms, saute for about 4 to 5 minutes after sauteing the vegetables.
Roasted Chile Pepper – You can use just about any pepper you want in this recipe – bell pepper, roasted New Mexico chile pepper, poblano or whatever you have in your region of the world. Just remember that the pepper you use might require a little spice adjustment to add more heat or reduce it.
Red Chile Paste – This red chile paste, and red chile sauce are condiments I keep in the freezer, so it's readily available. If you don’t have a red chile sauce or paste, then you can substitute 1 – 3 tsp. red chile powder or a chile powder blend or leave it out altogether. The amount, of course, depends on how hot it is and how hot you want to make the dish. For example, if you’re using cayenne, chile de arbol, murupi amerela, or chile pequin, then ½ tsp. might be plenty or for some, even too much.
Herbs – Beans and oregano is always a good match, but play around with other herbs as well. For a vegetarian version with mushrooms, thyme, tarragon or sage would be nice additions. If you’re using Italian Sausage, then sage would be great.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen