Since moving to Glasgow to go to university I find myself missing lots about New Orleans. I miss the warm weather, the people, my friends, family, the annual church Christmas tree sale, and most of all the food. Most New Orleanian dishes are meat heavy, spicy, and with specific ingredients hard to find anywhere else, so a lot of improvisation is needed when trying to cook for a group of friends with two vegans, a vegetarian, someone with a gluten intolerance, and make sure its not too spicy. Sadly this makes it impossible to make my favorite dish (chicken and sausage gumbo), but I've found that my red beans and rice recipe is always a hit! Red beans and rice are traditionally a Monday (laundry day) night dinner, as it's a low effort dish that can simmer all day while doing you're laundry. I've adjusted a couple recipes I've found online to my taste and schedule so feel free to improvise!
Lina's Red Beans and Rice (can be vegan/vegetarian)
Ingredients
3 cans red beans
Vegetable oil
1 pack andouille sausage (cut into slices)
1.5 sweet onions (diced)
2 green peppers (diced)
3 celery stalks (diced)
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 cloves garlic
3 cups chicken stock
Cajun seasoning (to taste)
Hot sauce (to taste)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
50g Butter (optional)
Parsley (garnish)
Rice
Instructions
1. Brown sausage and set aside
2. Cook onions, then add bell pepper and celery, cook until tender
3. Stir in tomato paste, garlic, seasoning for 1 minute
4. Add red beans, stock, hot sauce, bay leaf, sausage, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer until reduced ~ 20 minutes
5. Use a spoon to mash a few beans against the side of the pot for creaminess or use a handheld blender and give it a few pulses, adjust seasoning to taste, and stir in butter if desired.
6. Serve with rice and garnish with parsley
Tips
- Andouille is impossible to find so just use any smoked pork or beef sausage you want at your desired spice level
- Traditionally, red beans are used but these are hard to find. Red kidney beans are a good substitute.
- I use Tony’s creole seasoning I bring from home, but you can use a mix of paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano to recreate it or whatever you want to create a similar taste.
- You can easily make this vegetarian/vegan by leaving out the sausage and butter and using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. If you leave out the sausage you can add in 1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke if you want to recreate that smoky flavor.