Red Beans and rice is a staple and tradition in New Orleans, and we love them anytime, this recipe is a modified version that follows the Eat To Live Guidelines with no oil, salt or meat added, and is a vegetarian addition to our healthy lifestyle arsenal. To make up for the lack of sausage or ham I used a beef stock for added flavor, and the beans came out just as tasty as ever without any animal protein. Crystal hot sauce is our personal favorite, because it has the spiciness you want from a hot sauce, and it won’t overpower with flavor like some other favorite hot sauces will do on dishes.
| Ingredients | ||
| 1 | lb | Red kidney beans, rinsed, soaked overnight and drained |
| 2 | Cups | Onions, chopped |
| 4 | Ribs | Celery, chopped (1 ½ cups) |
| 1 | Med. | Bell pepper, chopped (1 ½ – 2 cups) |
| 1 | Tbsp | Garlic, minced |
| 4 | Cups | Beef stock |
| 1 | Tbsp | Italian seasoning blend (heaping tablespoon) |
| 2 | Each | Bay leaves |
| 1 | Tbsp | Worcestershire sauce |
| ½ | Tbsp | Crystal Hot sauce |
| Procedure Steps | |
| 1. | Drain the soaked red beans and add them to the pot of a slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients and stir well and cover. You want just enough of the stock to cover all the ingredients, adjust your quanilty of stock as needed. Turn the heat to the highest setting and allow the crock pot to come to a simmer, then reduce the heat setting to a medium-low and allow to slow cook for 7 hours. |
| 2. | Remove cover and stir well, then keep on medium-low heat for 1 more hour for the red beans to thicken up |
| Serve over steamed brown rice | |
This recipe was prepared on Eat To Live, Week 4, and linked from Eat To Live, Week 4 Recap of our ETL diet and lifestyle, you can follow our complete progress at Eat To Live.
15 responses so far ↓
1 Kim // Apr 27, 2010 at 5:25 pm
This sounds very good. For those that want to restrict meat but want a little richer ham like flavour the Goya Ham Flavoured Concentrate might be a tasty addition. It is not too bad for sodium either. I have had good luck with it in soups when no ham was available. I will try this recipe soon as I do like New Orleans food.
2 Conor @ HoldtheBeef // Apr 28, 2010 at 10:50 am
looking at dishes like this make me not so sad about cooler weather being here 🙂
3 Doc // Apr 28, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Thanks Chef,
Always looking for good veggie recipes. I have a bottle of crystal in the fridge-those who know-know;-)
4 Gera @ SweetsFoodsBlog // Apr 28, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Adore red beans in every form and this an excellent and yummy recipe to try for, more in cold days 🙂
Cheers,
Gera
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6 pegasuslegend // Apr 30, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Could eat these everyday and you just made them easier yummy!~
7 Drick // May 1, 2010 at 8:33 am
huh, never thought of using Italian seasoning but, hey, it has all the good stuff – I like Trappey’s hot sauce, doesn’t seem to leave an aftertaste … have you tried it?
8 Kristi Rimkus // May 1, 2010 at 3:24 pm
We are in the middle of moving and remodeling the new house. I’m saving this. I’ll need to feed a crowd and this would be perfect!
9 buy slow cooker // May 5, 2010 at 8:37 am
I think that if we make red beans with this recipe than it will definitely more tasty to take….
10 Goya Dark Red Kidney Beans - 24 Pack // May 18, 2010 at 7:15 pm
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11 buy slow cooker // May 27, 2010 at 3:15 am
After visit this post I think that this is the best recipes to take with slow cooker.
12 Beverly // Sep 14, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Glad you shared about Crystal hot sauce. My husband loves hot sauce and I never know which brand is best.
13 Rebecca // Dec 26, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Not to offend–this sounds pretty yummy–but beef stock is not vegetarian. Neither is Worcestershire, as it contains anchovies. This is a recipe restricting meat use, yes, but it is NOT vegetarian.
14 Boudreaux Ryan // Dec 27, 2010 at 10:15 am
Rebecca, yeah, okay, it is a meatless red beans and rice version. It would not be hard to make this a true “vegetarian” dish with several modifications: 1.) use vegetable stock to replace the beef stock, 2.) omit the Worcestershire sauce, or make your own, and omit the anchovies.
Bon appetit!
CCR
=:~)
15 zvezda // Jan 8, 2011 at 9:41 pm
This recipe looks delicious, but I don’t have a crockpot. How would you make this recipe if you didn’t have a crockpot?