VEGETARIAN RED BEANS AND RICE WITH ANDOUILLE EGGPLANT
We’ve been making vegetarian red beans and rice for a long, long time, but this is the best version yet. The tasty addition of the andouille-spiced eggplant and smoky sun-dried tomatoes is something we wish we’d thought of long ago. This is a great recipe for entertaining because everything can be done well ahead of time. In fact, it tastes even better the next day. Serve with some crunchy, buttered French bread and a healthy dash of hot sauce.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup diced smoked sun-dried tomatoes*
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Creole mustard
1 teaspoon red miso paste (optional)
1 ½ cups dried red beans (soaked overnight in 3 cups of water)
4 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 bay leaves
Sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper (to taste)
1 ½ cups water
6 cups cooked brown rice
Andouille Eggplant (recipe follows)
½ cup sliced green onion (to garnish)
Hot sauce (to garnish)
Heat the butter and oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sweat it down until it is translucent and beginning to brown. Add the celery, green pepper, smoked sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh garlic. Cook until all the vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic powder, cayenne, paprika, thyme, mustard, and miso. Add the soaked and drained beans, stock, vinegar, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Allow the mixture to simmer over low heat for 2 hours or until the beans are tender. Add water if the mixture looks dry–the liquid should be above the beans by at least an inch.
To serve, spoon a cup of rice onto the center of a dinner plate and add an equal amount of the red bean mixture on top. Top that with slices of Andouille Eggplant. Garnish with sliced green onion and plenty of hot sauce.
Makes 8 servings.
*If smoked sun-dried tomatoes are unavailable in your area, simply use sun-dried tomatoes and a teaspoon of liquid smoke, or make your own using our Quick-Smoking Method (page 231).
½ teaspoon sea salt flakes
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
4 cups Japanese eggplant, sliced 1-inch thick
In a large bowl or bag combine the salt, thyme, garlic powder, red pepper, black pepper and 1 ½ tablespoons of canola oil. Toss the eggplant slices with the mixture.
Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add the remaining canola oil to the pan. Once the oil begins to smoke, add the eggplant so that one side of each eggplant slice makes contact with the pan. Working quickly, turn each slice over once it is deeply browned, about 45 seconds, and cook the other side in the same way. This may be done in batches–just add a little canola if the pan looks dry. Set the cooked eggplant aside on a paper towel to drain.
Makes 4 servings.