Red beans and rice is one of my favorite cool weather meals. It’s hearty, comforting and nutritious. But to prepare it the classic way — using dried beans — takes several hours and requires a spice rack’s worth of seasonings. To keep this dish within 5:30 Challenge recipe parameters requires some smart shortcut substitutions.
Traditional red beans and rice starts with what’s known as the “holy trinity,” a mix of finely diced onion, green bell pepper and celery, all cooked down gently until softened. These ingredients require quite a bit of chopping and would take up the majority of our five-item ingredient list. Instead, I use fresh celery (the only ingredient that needs to be chopped), along with a bag of frozen peppers and onions. These bags include peppers other than green ones, but an additional bit of color certainly doesn’t hurt the dish. Also, there’s no need to thaw the frozen veggies; simply add them to the sauteed celery and let them thaw and tenderize in the pot.
Instead of worrying about building a spice blend from scratch, I used jarred Cajun seasoning in this recipe. These mixtures include plenty of dried herbs, chiles and garlic, so you’ll get a big bang for your buck. Keep in mind that if your seasoning includes salt, you may not need to season with additional salt at all; taste the final dish before adding any.
Finally, for the beans and rice, I stick with 5:30 Challenge staples: canned kidney beans and bagged microwave white rice. The beans only need to simmer in the pot for about 10 minutes to turn flavorful and the rice cooks in less than two.
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
About the Author
