Recipe Friday: Red Beans and Rice

It's Friday!!!  I just love the relaxing/ exciting feeling I get on Friday.  I can relax knowing that I have a weekend at home and I get excited about the fun weekend activities we have planned.  This weekend we are working on an outdoor fire pit to replace the one that was stolen from our house this week :/  Hopefully a brick one will prevent them from being able to take it from our yard.

To start the weekend I thought I would share my cheater red beans and rice recipe.  When I met Cameron I quickly learned that his favorite meal EVER is red beans and rice, and my mother in law told me that I would have to learn how to cook it :)  When I first attempted it right after getting married I put in all of the effort of soaking dried beans overnight and spending a couple of hours letting all of the ingredients cook together in a big pot on the stove.  I quickly learned that all of the time put into the meal would not work in our lifestyle and that I needed to fix the recipe to fit into the time I have to devote to dinner.  Here is my quick and easy red beans and rice that still makes my husband happy :)

Ingredients:

*1 can of red beans drained and rinsed

*3 cups of rice (I usually use Uncle Ben's)

*One package of sausage (I've used turkey and kielbasa, but it really depends on what you like)

*6 1/2 cups of chicken broth (or water with chicken bullion cubes if you're in a pinch)

*Creole seasoning

Optional:

*Garlic

*Olive oil

I first heat up olive oil in garlic in my pot, and then add in the rice and stir to make sure the rice is coated in the olive oil.  I toast my rice for 3 to 4 minutes to make sure the garlic flavor is infused.

Once the rice is toasted I add in the chicken broth.  The night I made this I didn't have chicken broth on hand (fixed that grocery shopping this week!) so I just used water and 4 chicken bullion cubes.  Not as good on the sodium front, but it works flavor wise in a pinch :)  You could also use vegetable or beef broth, I just prefer chicken.  The point is to give a flavor for your rice to soak up as it cooks.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes.

While the liquid and rice boils I begin prepping the beans and sausage.  Cut the sausage in quarter inch slices and then cook in a pan until they are nice and brown on both sides. 

At this point you may have a cutie puppy intently watching for a falling piece of sausage ;)

 While the pot is boiling also drain and rinse the beans.

With about five minutes left in the cooking time I usually add in the beans and the sausage.  The five minutes helps to warm and soften the beans, and it gives time for all of the flavors to combine.

The final step is to add in the creole seasoning.  There is no right or wrong amount it just depends on how much kick you like to your food.  We like a lot of kick!  Start out with a light sprinkle and add in a little at a time.

Your final result is easy, delicious, and perfect for cool, fall days!