Red Beans and Rice - Southern U.S Style

Prep:10minCook:45min

Slightly Tweaked version of Adam Ragusea's recipe. Leek can be used instead of Celery. The original recipe calls for a 'smoked ham hock' or 'smoked turkey leg' for a more authentic taste (instead of the bouillion cubes). If vegetarian, the recipe calls for smoked paprika instead. Original recipe also calls for (optional) sugar, to taste at the end. A small tin of sweetcorn is a lovely addition to put into this stew (at the end for 5minutes) and gives that lovely sweetness without feeling weird about it. Serves 6 - 8. In my humble opinion, it serves about 4 in reality (adding the tin of sweetcorn seems to expand the serving size though). If using tinned beans in water, cooking time is around 40mins.

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 00:02:42 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Great

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

High

Nutrition per serving

Calories278.6 kcal (14%)

Total Fat0.6 g (1%)

Carbs50.6 g (19%)

Sugars2.7 g (3%)

Protein20 g (40%)

Sodium972.6 mg (49%)

Fiber20.3 g (73%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

6 servings

454gdried red beans

For Garnish, Optional

2 tablespoonstomato paste

2stock cubes

Paprika

Lots of it, just for colour

Instructions

Step 1

Cut the onion, pepper and celery stalks into a medium dice, and put them in a big pot with a little olive oil. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until they seem at least halfway cooked. Stir in the tomato paste, then quickly add in the beans and enough water to cover everything before the paste burns. Drop in the ham hock.

Step 2

Reduce the heat to a low boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans taste done — 45-60 min. At any point in the process, season to taste with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, cumin, oregano and sage. At the very end, stir in a pinch of sugar and a tiny splash of vinegar (not traditional but very good).

Step 3

Serve the beans alongside rice, garnish with celery leaves, and drown in hot sauce. You can try to eat some meat off of the ham hock, but keep in mind it was chiefly for flavoring the beans.

Step 4

For Those using Dried Beans: Soak the beans in enough water to keep them submerged as they double in size overnight. (Kenji recommends 15g of salt per liter of soak water, but plain water is fine too.) The next day, you can either keep the soak water, or drain it out and rinse the beans clean. (The water has a lot of good color, but there's some evidence that it increases gas if you use it, and Kenji says he gets better texture by discarding salted soak water and rinsing the beans clean.)