SPICY Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice

So today is FAT TUESDAY!! Woo hoo! Some of the girls and I from work decided to have a New Orleans Fat Tuesday pitch in! We have a few vegetarians in the group - so for the first time - I made red beans and rice WITHOUT Cajun sausage. I know - it's against everything I have ever known. Hahaha. So I found this recipe on Food Network. I made it exactly as the recipe stated. WARNING it is SPICY! Next time I make it, I am only going to use 1 can of adobo chilies. Overall, people seemed to like it.

Ingredients

1 pound dried red beans, sorted through for stones
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 medium carrots, peeled, 1/2-inch dice
2 celery stalks, 1/2-inch dice
1 large sweet onion, 1/2-inch dice
1 medium red bell pepper, 1/2-inch dice
Freshly ground black pepper
6 cups lightly packed torn kale leaves, ribs removed
2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo, minced
1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from canned chipotles)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or as needed
2 bay leaves
Kosher salt
Hot sauce, such as Tabasco
4 cups steamed long-grain white rice
1/4 cup sliced green onion, for garnish
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions

Place the beans in a large bowl. Cover with water and soak overnight. Rinse and drain.

Set a large heavy saucepan (Dutch oven works well) over medium heat. Add the oil and saute the garlic, carrots, celery, onions and bell peppers, about 5 minutes. Season with pepper (do not add salt at this stage or the beans will get tough while cooking). Add the red beans, kale leaves, chipotles and sauce,Worcestershire, smoked paprika, onion powder, thyme, oregano and cayenne. Stir well to combine everything, and then add the bay leaves and 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the bean mixture thickens, about 1 1/2 hours. Add more water as it cooks if necessary. Season well with salt once the beans are tender.

When done, remove the bay leaves. Then carefully ladle out about 1 cup of the bean mixture into a food processor and puree (or mash with a fork). Return the puree to the pan, taste and season again with salt and black pepper. Add hot sauce to taste at this stage.

Serve the red beans on top of steamed white rice and garnish with sliced scallions and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/spicy-vegetarian-red-beans-and-rice-recipe.html?oc=linkback