Red Beans and Rice

We returned to 100 Days of Real Food today for more inspiration. We changed up Lisa's recipe a little to fit our time table and canned beans.

In a large pot we fried up 6 slices of bacon in a little olive oil and removed it from the pot. While we sliced up half a big onion, half a pepper, and 2 celery stalks, we

prepared a pot of rice. For that we minced and melted 2 cloves of garlic in a little olive oil, added 3 cups of water, brought it to a boil, added a little salt and 1 1/2 cups brown rice, waited for it to boil once more, turned it down to the lowest setting and forgot about it.

We drained most of the bacon grease from the first pot, retained a little for taste, added a little more olive oil, and softly cooked the veggies for a short while with some salt, black pepper, and red pepper (just a little so everybody could adjust the heat later for themselves).

Then we tossed in 2 rinsed cans of red kidney beans (the recipe calls for soaked beans), 2 minced cloves of garlic, the bacon, and 2 bay leaves.

We added one of the cans worth of water, brought the goodness to a boil and simmered it for about half an hour. (The recipe calls for a an hour and a half. But we got real hungry and traded in some extra goodness for a quick fix. It turned out quite scrumptious nonetheless.) Before eating we fished out about half of the beans with a slotted spoon and smashed them up, returned them back, and mixed it all up for a nice thick consistency,

To serve we prettied the dish up with  a few sliced green onions. Not bad for a tired an grumpy bunch at the end of the week. 

Thanks for the recipe! It was yummy.