For op and anyone else.

• ⁠Here’s my recipe for Cajun red beans and rice, and the beauty of it is, the minimum of ingredients you need, is rice, red beans, and water. Literally nothing else, just skip every step that doesn’t apply to you. Alongside, feel free to add or substitute any step or ingredient you want or need to. I grew up eating this, and still regularly make this today. It is cheap, it is filling, it is easy, and it’s delicious. (best thing about it, is cook this one dish, and you’ll have dinner for the rest of the week already squared by the leftovers)

• ⁠in whatever amounts you’d like;

-) thyme

-) oregano

-) salt

-) black pepper

-) onion powder

-) garlic powder

-) smoked paprika

-) cayenne pepper

-) whatever else you wanna add

Ingredients-) a pound-ish of red kidney beans, 1 or 2 large onions, 1 or 2 bell peppers, 2 or 3 stalks of celery, 1 or 2 pounds of your favorite sausage(I typically go smoked, andouille, or a polish kielbasa), 1 or 2 bulb(s) of garlic, more chicken stock then you’d expect to need/use, your preferred type of rice in however much quantity you want, some tomato paste, some dried bay leaves(I typically go 2 to 4 bay leaves), and if you can get it, a ham hock bone(a lil’ bit of liquid smoke or extra sausage does the exact same thing if you can’t get it)

Tools needed-) a big stew pot, Dutch oven or something you can cook large amounts of stew/soup in. A ladle, and a lid for whatever pot you got. A knife. A rice cooker or a small pot for cooking the rice, and a cooking beer(a beer you drink while cooking)

Steps-

1. ⁠⁠⁠chop up your sausage, chop up your vegetables, mince your garlic and rinse/wash the beans

2. ⁠⁠⁠put the big pot on the stove, and set the burner to low-ish heat, and once it’s “hot enough” throw the sausage in and stir somewhat frequently, as the purpose is to brown the sausage and to extract as much sausage fat as you want. Once you have, take the sausage out of the pot onto a plate or whatever nearby(so you don’t burn/overcook it)

3. ⁠⁠⁠add more fat if you need it(olive oil or butter) and throw the vegetables into the sausage fat, and cook until beginning to get soft

4. ⁠⁠⁠make a hole in the center of the vegetables add a lil’ bit of oil/butter, then add the tomatoe paste and garlic to the small pool of fat, and wait 30 seconds or until fragrant and then thoroughly mix.

5. ⁠⁠⁠throw the sausage back in, stir to mix a lil’

6. ⁠⁠⁠throw the rinsed/washed beans into the pot, mix, and let cook for a couple minutes

(Presumably, you’ve been taking sips of your beer(s) throughout this process, and should start getting a lil’ buzzed by now)

7) add the ham hock if you have it, and add enough chicken stock for it to be an inch/2.54cm above the meat/bone/vegetables

8) add your seasonings/bayleaves and throughly stir until well incorporated, turn the heat up and wait until it starts to boil

9) once boiling, let it boil for bout 5-ish minutes, then turn the burner to half/low heat, put the lid on and let it simmer for 3 and a half-ish hours.

(With you stirring occasionally to prevent anything from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning, also to add additional chicken stock if needed. Plus, to thicken it, towards the last 40-ish minutes, use a spoon to smush some beans against the side of the pot, and/or tear off chucks of stale bread, mix and let finish cooking. Also, it’ll need more salt than you’d expect, so add it towards the end, and taste each time you add a lil bit)

Finally, to serve, remove the ham hock and ladle a lil’ bit of juice into a bowl, then add some rice, and ladle a large helping of everything, and enjoy. It also tastes better the next day after a night in the refrigerator, hungover and eating it hunched over the trash can with your morning beer(s) (the traditional way of eating Cajun cuisine)

(Green onions and some cornbread also pair extremely nicely with red beans and rice)

Edit: also, for the rice I like to add a glob of butter, a pinch of salt, and a lot of dill just before the rice cooker cooks it, or you boil it in a pan.