Red Beans & Rice w/ Mixed Vegetables

[Spang]

The recipe:

1/2 Cup of brown rice
1 1/2 Cups of water
1 Rice cooker
1 Bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 Can of kidney beans
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Microwave
1 Stove
1 Cooking pan
1 Wooden spoon
1 Plate
1 Fork
1 Illegal immigrant to wash the dishes

Dump rice and water into rice cooker.
Close lid.
Press button.
Wait.
Microwave frozen bag of mixed vegetables in microwave.
Dump cooked rice, not-frozen-anymore bag of mixed vegetables and drained can of kidney beans into cooking pan.
Splash some soy sauce over it.
Heat and stir.
Serve.

What to drink with this?

Beer

[Boogahz]

I can see some of the substitutions, but the Soy sauce kills it.

[Psyloche]

I just dump the frozen veggies into the Rice Cooker itself, toss in a little salt, maybe a package of Sazon. I kind of cringe at the idea of just soy sauce though, and I'm Asian!

As a sort of an aside, a really quick and dirty Fried rice recipe that's quite similar to what you're doing is:

Put a small amount of oil in frying pan, medium heat
Mash some garlic (to taste, I love me some garlic so I use a lot) and brown it
Dump cooked rice in frying pan
I crack an egg or two depending on how much rice is being made and add it to the pan
Add soy sauce to taste, stirring occasionally

You can add whatever else you want, I've added meats and/or vegetables and it tasted fine to me. Then again I came up with this recipe when I was 5 before PM Kindergarten with my Grandma, it might actually suck. Also, replace illegal immigrant with 5 year old Kindergarten child for dishes.

[Canelek]

Kill the soy! Not bad, but it sure ain't Red Beans & Rice, as far as the Southern namesake. See Arb's recipe from years ago. Now that is a classic, and awesome.

[Xatrei]

To me, "red beans and rice" is the Creole style bean stew over rice that one finds in Louisiana. This ain't it, though I'm sure it's a fine quick & dirty "dump it in the pot and wait" sort of thing.

Vegetarianized RB&R I've experimented with over the last year (still haven't gotten it to where I want it):

In a large dutch oven, sautee some finely diced onion (1 med), bell pepper (1 med), 2 stalks of celery and garlic with bay leaves, thyme, oregano, rosemary, cayenne in some butter (or canola oil). When completely soft, add a pound (dry weight) of soaked small red beans and enough vegetable broth to cover them with half a table spoon of liquid smoke and a tablespoon of hot sauce. Cook for 2 to 2.5 hours or so (beans should be soft), mash about 1/3 of the beans with a spoon against the side of the pot, add salt to taste and then cook for another 30-45 minutes. Adjust seasonings, and serve with rice (white or brown, I prefer white for this) that's been cooked separately along with some chopped parsley, green onions and enough hot sauce to suit you.

This is one of those things that to me will never be perfect without ham hocks and andouille, but this gets pretty close to satisfying a craving for RB&R.

Edit: Forgot that for the next time I make this, I plan to introduce a bit of cornstarch slurry when I mash the beans to attempt to make up for the fact that you're not getting any collagen from the ham hocks. That extra bit of thickness is a textural component that the meat-free version of RB&R really lacks, imo, even when mashing a higher proportion of the beans during cooking than I did for meaty versions of this.

[Canelek]

That may work for the meat free version, especially with the extra herbs. If going for more traditional, make sure to not over-hock! Way too salty!

[Aabidano]

...make sure to not over-hock!...

You're delirious, that's just not possible.

[Xatrei]

That may work for the meat free version, especially with the extra herbs. If going for more traditional, make sure to not over-hock! Way too salty!

My old version with the hocks & andouille always got rave reviews. Hocks are totally traditional, but you're right that their saltiness can get out of hand if you're not careful, though. I should really emphasize the "add salt to taste" bit because you generally won't need much (if any), but it's variable. I usually tried to buy the smallest hocks I could find, they fit better in my dutch oven before I got a giant one. I'd use 2 smallish ones or a big one if that's all that was available. I remove them when I mash the beans, and pick as much meat off of them as I can get, and return it to the pot during the last phase of cooking. I'd slice up andouille on the bias and sautee it separately until it was cooked well and a little crunchy. A "healthy" pile of that would go along with each serving of beans & rice. As for the herbs, it's a pretty standard compliment of herbs (usually hiding in the creole seasoning that most people use instead of individual ingredients). I use just a tiny bit of dried rosemary because too much really overpowers it. I blast all of the dried herbs, except the bay leaves, in a coffee grinder before adding them. Also, I left out black and white pepper that I add with the rest of the seasonings at the beginning.

[Canelek]

Well, now I know what I am cooking this weekend

[Aabidano]

Recipe I sort of use was out of a Paul Prudomme cookbook, fantastic stuff. Lots of ham hock + local smoked sausage. Really miss the country sausage we used to get in Pensacola /sniff.

Seriously considering some 15 bean soup tomorrow.

[Spang]

My recipe was a huge hit on the vegetarian/vegan message board I recently joined. Also, I agree that this isn't the traditional red beans & rice, but it has red beans and it has rice and it has mixed vegetables. Very generic name but it works.

[Aabidano]

It sounded decent to me, will try it at some point.

[miir]

My recipe was a huge hit on the vegetarian/vegan message board I recently joined.

Seriously?
Rice with frozen vegetables and canned beans is about as basic as you can get for a recipe.

[miir]

Try this and if you like it share it with your friends.


1 cup couscous
1 cup boiling water

Combine in a bowl

Throw in some:
Diced red/green pepper and red onion
Chopped up fresh parsley oregano and rosemary

Mix it all up
Cover and let stand for a bit then put it in the fridge

When ready to serve, add some crumbled up Greek feta and diced tomatoes.

[Sylvus]

Hot or cold, this recipe is really good: Quinoa and Black Beans

Easy to make, pretty similar to where this thread has started heading.

[miir]

I love Quinoa and Couscous

[Aabidano]

Had something similar to what Miir posted with bulgar or barley substituted for couscous. Good stuff.

[Spang]

My recipe was a huge hit on the vegetarian/vegan message board I recently joined.

Seriously?
Rice with frozen vegetables and canned beans is about as basic as you can get for a recipe.

That's what they liked about it. It's simple, inexpensive, nutritious and delicious.

[Canelek]

Sometimes simple is way better. Most of the time that weighs heavily on quality of ingredients.

Locally grown, or home grown veggies are key, as with prime cuts of meat. None of that Safeway nonsense.

Ribeye, perfectly marbled. Simple salt and pepper, olive oil and a perfect sear.


Damn, I am grilling tonight. Wish my garden was growing (just planted). I can't wait for squash and zucchini sliced longways and grilled up with that steak!

[miir]

That's what they liked about it. It's simple, inexpensive, nutritious and delicious.

But it would be so much better with fresh ingredients as well as more nutritious.

[Aslanna]

While I agree with go fresh when you can, especially if it's locally grown and in season, there's really nothing wrong with frozen.

Frozen vegetables have some advantages over fresh ones, in that they are available when the fresh counterpart is out-of-season, they have a very long shelf life when kept in a freezer, and that they often have been processed a step or more closer to eating. In many cases, they may be more economical to purchase than their fresh counterparts.

Over the years, there has been controversy as to whether frozen vegetables are better or worse than fresh ones. Generally, reports show that frozen vegetables are not so much nutritionally different from fresh ones.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, based on a 1998 report, frozen vegetables have the same nutrients and health benefits as their fresh counterparts. A 2003 Austrian study found that frozen vegetables are nutritionally better than out-of-season imported fresh ones.

However, there may be some risk in eating poorly cooked frozen vegetables. For example, a 2007 Australian study found that frozen vegetables may contain a bacterium called "map," which can thrive in both extreme cold and hot temperatures.

I recommend purchasing the non-bacterium variety!

[miir]

Had something similar to what Miir posted with bulgar or barley substituted for couscous. Good stuff.

I tried it with kasha on the weekend... turned out well.