RED BEANS and RICE, spicy, satisfying, healthy, budgetwise

Work-for-hire photograph of New Orleans Jazz Musician, Louis Armstrong, originally published in the New York World Telegraph and Sun (1953), subsequently donated to the U.S. Library of Congress and in the public domain.

All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song.Louis Armstrong

Not a Brooklyn recipe in origin, but we certainly made it there. When we think of red beans and rice, we think of Louis Armstrong, New Orleans, and Mardi Gras. Jazz, spice, sunshine, and fresh air ...


The recipe we share here is easy, healthy, filling, budget-wise, great for potlucks, and adaptable. When we prepared it for our potluck recently, we used a vegan soy chorizo sausage knowing full well it would change the flavor from New Orleans to old Mexico. If you want to use meat, use andouille sausage and just make sure it's wheat-and-gluten free.


This is the basic recipe, which we're happy having vegan. We did plain brown rice in our Cadillac of rice cookers, theZojirushi.

And now for the red beans, which starts off with the Louisiana trinity. You can do your beans from scratch if you normally do so, or you can use a good organic canned bean ... Eden Foods is always a good choice if you with canned beans.

RED BEANS AND RICE, Wheat-and-Gluten Free, Vegan
The recipe
Serves 6- 8

• 2 cups minced celery
• 2 cups minced yellow onion
• 2 cups minced green bell pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 28-oz can organic crushed tomatoes
• 1 15-oz cans of organic kidney beans, drain
• 12 oz. vegetable broth, homemade or packaged, wheat-and-gluten free
• 2 dry bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried red pepper (adjust to taste)

Sauté the celery, onion, and green pepper in olive oil until they are tender. Add the garlic and stir, cooking for about one minute. Add the tomatoes and the beans and stir. Add the broth and the seasoning and stir. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat immediately. Simmer on low with the lid slightly ajar on the pot for about 45 minutes or so.  If you then let it rest in the refrigerator overnight, the flavors will be enhanced.  Serve over rice ... Yum!

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