My husband always tells me that he can live off of beans and rice alone – that I don’t have to add any variety to the meals that I make.
So every now and then I appease him with this wish… But mix it up a bit to gratify my curiosity of recipe improvisation. ;)
Today’s recipe is a twist on dirty beans and rice – I mixed a bit of quinoa into the rice for color, texture and nuttiness.
Dirty Beans & Rice with Andouille Sausage
No need to follow this recipe to a T (except when cooking the rice/quinoa). Feel free to add your own spices, some shrimp, more veggies – whatever you like!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup brown or white rice
- 1 cup tri-colored quinoa
- 24 oz. andouille
- 1-2 TBS olive oil
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, diced
- 4 ribs celery, diced
- 2 medium green bell peppers, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 2-4 tsp ground cumin (to your taste)
- 2 TBS chipotles in adobe (pureed)
- 4 TBS tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced for serving
- salt and pepper, to taste
1. Start the rice in a small saucepan. 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. With the lid on the whole time, bring to a boil and turn heat down to a simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave lid on for another 5 minutes. (If you’re like me and struggle to make rice, Watch this video.)
2. While rice is cooking, brown while andouille in a hot pan until all sides are brown. Set aside to cool a bit before you slice it.
3. Set aside the cooked rice and then start the quinoa. 1 cup of quinoa to 1 cup of water. With the lid on the whole time, bring to a boil and turn heat down to a simmer for 12 minutes. Turn off heat and leave lid on for another 5 minutes.
4. Add a little oil to a large preheated pot and saute the onions until they are tender – about 8-10 minutes. Add a little water if they brown too much (otherwise they will burn). Then add the celery and bell peppers and brown for another 3-5 minutes before adding the garlic and spices.
5. Mix the tomato paste and chipotle together with the broth and add to the veggies in the pot; let simmer for 3-5 minutes until peppers begin to soften
6. Cut the andouille diagonally and add to the large saucepan. Fold in the tomatoes. Simmer everything for 5-10 minutes to let the flavors mingle and so the tomatoes soften.
7. Mix in the rice and quinoa (if you have extra – you can freeze in quart bags and use on the fly if needed).
8. Season dish to taste with salt and pepper.
9. This dish is great on its own – or you can pair it with a nice salad. Would also make an excellent potluck dish!