Red Beans and Rice

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/278149/vegan-red-beans-and-rice/

#recipes

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package dry red kidney beans
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 6 large cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 8 cups water, divided
• 4 dashes liquid smoke flavoring
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Place red beans into a large container and cover with several inches of cool water; let soak, 8 hours to overnight. Drain and rinse.
2. Add celery, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to a blender and process until just shy of a puree.
3. Add vegetable oil to a saucepan or stockpot over medium heat. Cook and stir vegetable mixture for 5 minutes. Add thyme, oregano, black pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Cook, stirring regularly, for 2 minutes more.
4. Add 6 cups water, the beans, liquid smoke, and bay leaves. Stir to combine and turn heat up to high. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and let simmer until beans begin to fall apart, 2 to 3 hours.
5. Bring remaining water and rice to a boil in another saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender and water has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Pour most of the cooking liquid from the beans into a bowl and reserve. Remove bay leaves. Mash about 1/3 of the beans, adding as much of the reserved liquid as necessary to reach preferred thickness. Mix with the unmashed beans and season with salt. Serve beans over rice.

Cook's Notes:

More or less rice may be needed, depending on your preferences. I like brown rice to make it even healthier. After cooking,
you can stir in 1 tablespoon butter to add some vegetarian-friendly (but decidedly not vegan) richness.

Tips

This will thicken a lot upon cooling. You may want to reserve the extra liquid in the refrigerator if intending to keep leftovers.

The number of servings indicated is for eating as a main dish. As a side, it will make approximately twice as many servings.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving: 436 calories; protein 20g; carbohydrates 76g; fat 6.5g; sodium 64.7mg.

nutrition data from allrecipes