Commerical Interruption: Red Beans and Rice

This is a quick commercial interruption from my Crockpot-freezer-food-process jubilee. Last night, I actually realized that I forgot to include a recipe for red beans and rice that I'd meant to include. I was a little disappointed, soooo. . . I made it tonight. I doubled the recipe, cooked one on the spot and put the other in the freezer. Although, it should be noted that I left the water out of the freezer version and made sure I included that instruction on the bag.

The recipe is from Cooking Light. A printable, Pinterestable, Facebookable, Tweetable, emailable version is available on the My Recipes website.

Slow-Cooker Red Beans and Rice

3 cups water
1 cup dried red kidney beans
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 (14-ounce) package turkey, pork, and beef smoked sausage, thinly sliced (such as Healthy Choice)
1 bay leaf
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups hot cooked long-grain rice
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Combine first 12 ingredients in an electric slow cooker. Cover with lid; cook on high heat for 5 hours. Discard bay leaf; stir in salt. Serve over rice; sprinkle servings evenly with green onions.

The Review

The recipe is wicked easy. I think I threw together the double batch in 20 minutes. However, it should be noted that I do not finely chop anything. I am all about quick and easy. Finely chopping isn't either. I cooked it on high for exactly 5 hours, and it is pungent, smelled up our whole house and the garage!

I cooked the rice in my rice cooker, then scooped the beans and sausage on top of the rice, rather than mixing it all up together. I made sure I got lots of the juices from the Crockpot into the bowl and mixed it up well. I then served it alongside some leftover homemade cornbread. Yum! Now, I just have to see how the freezer version turns out later. Stay tuned.

Ratings

Ease of preparation: A
Taste: B+
Quantity: We got two good-sized servings out of it and put away quite a bit in the fridge. I am guessing that we, our little family of 2.5, can get two or three meals out of it.
Notes: I like spicy, but I might cut down on the red pepper a smidge next time. Wade and I also think we'd add extra sausage next time, hence the B+ rating. However, we like meat. Nom nom nom.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.