Best Vegetarian Red Beans And Rice Recipe

Red beans and rice is a famous Southern food. These full of flavor, creamy, delicious red beans are very easy to make. They are made every week or two in most houses. When served with steamy hot fragrant rice, it not only satisfies your hunger but also satisfies the soul.

The biggest time-consuming part is to cook the beans to tender. If you tend to use canned red beans, the cooking time reduces to a mere 15 minutes.

But I don’t use canned beans. There is something comforting in cooking this dish from scratch.

The good thing about this dish is that it is full of spices. These spices are mild and added in small quantities. . They just give a hint and enhance each other’s flavor. The overall flavor is mild but heavenly. Some people like to smoke the beans, for that, I use smoked paprika. You can use regular paprika if you don’t fancy smoking.

I usually use small Mexican red beans because they have a comparatively fast cooking time. Large kidney beans are also fine as long as they are tender. And Oh! I love basmati rice. They are so fragrant, they make every dish special. These rice should be soaked for at least half an hour and take a longer time to cook than other varieties. Please see package instructions.

Rice is preferred to be eaten on the same day. However, leftover beans can be frozen. They defrost as new as freshly cooked.

Best Vegetarian Red Beans And Rice Recipe

Ingredients

For the Beans

Small red beans (Mexican) ½ kg soak overnight

Oil 2 tablespoon

Onion 1 medium diced

Bell pepper 1 diced

Celery sticks 3 diced

Tomatoes 2 medium diced

Salt to taste

Cumin powder 1 teaspoon

Smoked paprika powder 1 tablespoon

Onion powder 1 teaspoon

Garlic powder 1 teaspoon

Oregano ½ teaspoon

Thyme ½ teaspoon

Sugar ½ tablespoon

For Rice

Basmati rice 2 cups soaked for ½ hour

Salt to taste

Oil 4 tablespoon

Method

For Red Beans

In a pressure cooker, heat the oil.
Add onion, celery, bell pepper. Cook until soft for 2 minutes.
Add all the spices, let them simmer for a minute.
Add tomatoes and cook till they turn mushy.
Next, add in beans. Add enough water to cook in a pressure cooker for 40 minutes.
If the beans are not soft and tender, cook under pressure for another 20 minutes.
Take about ½ cup of the cooked beans and mash them with a fork. This will thicken the gravy to a creamy consistency.
Reduce water to a thick pancake batter consistency.
Garnish with celery leaves.

For Rice

In a pot add rice, salt, oil, and 4 cups of water or as directed on the rice package.
Bring it to a boil then simmer covered on medium heat.
Just when you can see the water level drop below the rice, reduce heat to very low and simmer covered for 15 more minutes.
Another method is to cook rice as you do the pasta.
Take enough water, cook rice to a tender.
Drain water, add salt and oil. Cover and simmer on a very low flame for 15 minutes.

Serve these delicious red beans on hot rice, and give your family and friends a dish to relish and remember. You will find yourself making this dish again and again.