Whenever my family and I order takeout from a local Chinese restaurant, they serve very VERY generous portions of rice! I hate being wasteful, so whenever there is leftover rice I try to figure out ways to utilize it. Since it's Mardi Gras, I thought I would share a Cajun-inspired recipe for those of us that will be celebrating Fat Tuesday at home!
This simple recipe requires canned items and spices that most of us have in our kitchen, day old rice (white or brown, the choice is yours), and a few standard produce items, making this a very inexpensive meal! It is also technically a VEGAN recipe, so this is the perfect Cajun meal for those of you that choose not to eat meat! If you do want a recipe with animal protein, I've included an optional meat ingredient!
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons of vegetable or olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
2 16 oz cans of dark red kidney beans, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) of canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup of water
2-3 cups of cooked rice (this varies based on your amount of leftovers)
Homemade Cajun seasoning:
1 tsp garlic powder (use a table spoon if you aren't using fresh garlic as well)
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper, 2-3 if you like it spicy!
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp onion powder (use more if you don't have fresh onions)
salt to taste
**Optional: a sliced and sauteed Andouille sausage.
Directions:
Reheat rice by adding it to a small pot with water on medium heat. Cook until rice is moist again and drain any excess water. If the rice was already under-cooked, this step is essential.
Add oil to a medium-sized pot and set burner heat to medium-low. Add garlic, onions, celery, and green peppers. Cook the vegetables until they are tender.
When the fresh ingredients are tender but not overcooked, add the undrained beans and tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and spices. Stir to combine everything.
Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for 15 -20 minutes, depending on how thick you want the beans to be. Stir occasionally.
If you want to add the Andouille sausage, slice it to a 1/2 cm thickness, pan sear until browned to your personal preference, and mix in the sausage 10 minutes into the boiling stage.
There are two serving styles, so this next step has two options: If you want to serve the dish with the rice mixed in already, then add rice and cook an additional 5 minutes. The other choice is to serve the beans by spooning them over a bed of rice. Serves between 4 and 6.
And there you have it! A simple, cheap, and vegan cajun recipe that anyone can enjoy! Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!
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