Have you ever taken a trip to a place you knew little or nothing about? Just gotten the urge to go, so you booked a ticket and went with only your bag and a vague idea as to what you were going to do when you got there?
A couple years ago Ben and I did just that when we hopped aboard a plane and headed south to spend a week in the Big Easy – New Orleans.
At the time neither of us knew a great deal about the city, except what we’d seen on the news during coverage of Hurricane Katrina, and our experience in the south was limited to sunny SoCal, Epcot Center, and watching Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood on repeat in college.
With a why not attitude though, and no expectations, we packed up, headed out, and ended up having the time of our lives!
From whooping it up on Bourbon Street with huge ass beers, to learning more about the history of the south on several plantation tours, and exploring nearly every inch of the French Quarter, Ben and I found the city, surrounding areas, and people to be simply enchanting.
I think it it officially beat San Francisco as my favorite city in the US as I was sitting at the oldest bar in America, Lafitte’s in the French Quarter, sipping an ice cold Abita beer, and watching horse drawn carriages clop by, thinking – this is the life.
One of the things we enjoyed most about our trip was of course, the food. There’s no shortage of restaurants in NOLA, more packed into a smaller area than a lot of cities I’ve been to, and if there was a line at the door, you knew it was worth waiting for. Especially if it was a Mother’s Po’ Boy smothered in “debris”.
Or a mouthwatering side of red beans & rice. One week wasn’t nearly enough time to get our fill of this famous Southern side dish. Fluffy white rice engulfed in a savory thick sauce packed with creamy beans, and salty andouille sausage. I mean…
Today New Orleans is celebrating Fat Tuesday, during Mardi Gras, and although we can’t be there to join in on the fun, at least we can eat like we’re in the Big Easy with homemade Crock Pot Red Beans & Rice.
Fat Tuesday is traditionally celebrated by eating indulgent, over-the-top foods (hence FAT Tuesday) before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season begins tomorrow, Ash Wednesday. I took the name a little less literally though, and made a lightened up version for dinner.
No bacon grease or extra fat here! Just beans, veggies, seasoning and, ok, some decadent andouille sausage. Totally worth it. Each huge serving of the recipe is packed with protein and fiber, and clocks in at just 250 calories (without the rice.) As if it couldn’t get any better, the crock pot did 90% of the work for me!
Start the recipe by chopping up what’s called the “Holy Trinity” in Southern Cajun & Creole cooking – bell peppers, celery and onions in roughly equal quantities.
Psst – my trick for not making a mess when cutting bell peppers is to cut each “cheek” off, leaving the stem and seeds neatly intact.
Chop the bell pepper and follow suit with the onions and celery, then toss everybody into the pool, aka a 4-quart crock pot.
Next add in a full pound of dried red kidney beans.
Then add in the salty awsomeness that is andouille sausage.
Andouille sausage is a smoked pork sausage used heavily in Cajun cooking. It is delicious, and I nearly doubled the amount the original recipe called for.
Finally, add minced garlic,
Creole seasoning (I halved this recipe and still had a ton leftover,)
and lots of water.
Give the whole thing a stir then cook for 7.5 hours on high, cracking the lid open for the last half hour so the sauce can thicken up. YOUR HOUSE WILL SMELL AMAZING!!!
Cook some fluffy white rice to sit underneath, and soak up all that succulent sauce. Top with green onions for color and crunch, and have at it my friends!
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Lighter Red Beans & Rice (Crock Pot Recipe)
Description
Lighter Red Beans & Rice is a flavor-packed crock pot recipe that tastes decadent, yet is lighter than traditional red beans and rice recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 14oz andouille sausage, sliced
- 3 tablespoons Creole seasoning (see notes for recipe)
- 1lb dried red kidney beans
- 7 cups water
- cooked white rice, for serving
Directions
- Place first 8 ingredients into a 4-quart crock pot and cook on high for 7.5 hours. Remove the lid partway for the last 30 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly. Serve over cooked white rice.
Notes
- I made 1/2 of this Creole Seasoning Blend and still had some leftover.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
I am not kidding you – this tasted just as good as anything we had in New Orleans. I couldn’t believe it!
Of course there was no “coat your tongue” feeling that you get with truly rich and fatty sauces (which must be enjoyed while on vacation – it’s the law) but honestly, it was thick and silky, and just a touch spicy. Ben and I both loved it. Leftovers are aplenty too. Which only lengthens the time I get to reminisce about our time down south.
Now if only there was a way make healthier beignets at home… ;)
Off to make Ben pour me a Sazerac…or two!
Oh, NOLA….I need to get back! I’m not a huge fan of kidney beans, so I wonder if this would be any good with cannelini or Great Northern bean? And maybe with kielbasa instead of andouille? Of course, it would be more like white beans and rice then….thoughts?
we actually do the same treatment with navy beans & rice- so yes, you could do this with Navy beans. And yes, with kielbasa, too. In fact, I actually usually just use low fat turkey kielbasa in lieu of andouille to save fat/calories on a pretty regular basis (I live in the suburbs of New Orleans)
I’m SO making this! YUM!
Yum! This looks awesome and healthy and I love that I can put it in the crock pot while I am at work. Thanks for sharing :)
Yum! I have always wanted to visit the Big Easy! I’m hoping I can add that to my list this year! The one city that went above and beyond for me was Chicago. I fell head over heels in love with the people, the sights, and my lord the food. Deep dish pizza, garrett’s carmel popcorn (I DIE!)http://www.garrettpopcorn.com/, and about a million other places. I love Dallas, but I would drop everything here in a heartbeat should I ever get the chance to move there.
Hi Kristin! Cute striped shirt!
Whee! ;)
This looks delicious – and fiberlicious! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
I always had an intense love for NYC – and finally one day up and drove there with some friends (From MI) I was afraid that I had built it up too much in my mind, but thankfully that was not the case. It exceeded my extreme expectations and remains my favorite city by far, I love uncovering something new each time I go.
I’d never heard of beignets before, but after looking it up, I think they look/sound delicious. Here in Michigan we lovingly refer to Fat Tuesday as Paczki Day instead. It seems to be concentrated in the eastern Midwest. But now I see what people do without paczki – beignets!
My most favorite place to travel was to Alaska. We flew in to Anchorage and rented a car and visited lots of small towns and fishing villages for the two weeks we were there. It was an amazing place because everywhere you looked there was something even more beautiful to see than the last thing you looked at. I can’t wait to go back!
Don’t you just ADORE New Orleans?! It is such a fun city and the people are so nice. My husband has never been and I really want to take him, if for nothing else other than the food!!
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it. Quick question…is it super spicy? Husband and I love spicy food but the kids not so much. Thanks!
I would say a 3 or 4 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the spiciest.) I would definitely not call it spicy!
Sounds good. Thank you! it’s going on the menu for next week :)
This recipe looks amazing! I loved to hear about your experience in New Orleans. Makes me itch for a visit!
We went to New Orleans two years after Hurricane Katrina and it was amazing! We loved meeting the people, eating the food, and seeing a wonderful city picking itself back up and returning to its former glory. I’ll definitely be making this dish soon in celebration of the time and place!
Wow, that recipe looks seriously delicious! I went to New Orleans once when I was a kid, but I don’t remember much about it other than that it was the middle of the summer and very hot. I’d say that the city that most exceeded my expectations, however, was Boston! Such a cute place and much more exciting than I had expected. :)
Now I want red beans & rice AND a crock pot… Thanks for this recipe – looks awesome.
San Fransisco…I love that city with the bottom of my heart. The people, food, architecture, and the golden gate have captured my heart.
Hawaii is right there next to SF…pure amazingness.
ps: i am in davenport, iowa right now as im typing this and i cant help but think about you as im in your state…youre the only person i feel like i know that lives here so i hope this doesnt wierd you out =)
i love new orleans so much! this post almost made me cry because I’m so ready to go back!!!
This looks superrrr delicious!! Love a good crockpot recipe too :) Kind of random, but not sure if you’ve ever read about red kidney bean poisoning? It has to do with not boiling this type of bean before adding to a slow cooker – I know, I know – chances are probably slim, but just thought I’d share anyways! http://www.foodreference.com/html/artredkidneybeanpoisoning.html
Ahhhh perhaps I should have read the comment above ;) So does the slow cooker get hot enough to make it safe for this dish even w/out boiling first?
Yes they boil for several hours.
So good to know! I’ve always been a bit nervous to cook w dried kidney beans bc of this, thanks so much girl!
Please make sure to boil the kidney beans for at least 10 minutes before putting into crockpot…according to the FDA, there is a toxin in dried beans, especially kidney beans, that can make you sick. Boiling takes care of the toxin. Not all crockpots get hot enough to kill it and can actually make the toxin worse.
You dont have to take my word for it (I question everything I see online)–here is the Link to the FDA site explaining it:
Otherwise, that recipe looks very tasty! I’m adding it to my list to try.
Cooking the beans on high for 7 hours ensure the beans are safe in this dish!
If you read the FDA article, it says that not all crockpots get hot enough and that can actually make it worse…one of the outbreaks they cite was from crockpots.
I’ve made kidneys beans in crockpot before I knew about this without issue but I think I’ll be boilimg them from now on…better safe than sorry.
Made these today and I was worried after reading this (although the last hour I had the crockpot on high)…however, we are all fine. No one got sick. I did not boil the beans and they did cook on low most of the time. That being said…next time I will boil them first as suggested. Thanks for the info…I had never heard this before!
So weird – this is exactly what I made for dinner last night! The only difference is that I added crushed tomatoes!
These pics are amazing! This recipe sounds soo good- makes me want to jet back to NOLA RIGHT NOW. Yummy!