Spicy red beans in a savory sauce served with fluffy rice. Add a little crunch for texture like air-fried jalapeño pepper rings. Hmmmm. Serve this with a little corn bread and a big green salad with peppercorn dressing and you have a complete hearty meal.
Want more Cajun? Try my Cajun lentil soup or Mushroom Gumbo are quick and easy!
Cajun food is generally full of spicy sausage or meat of some kind. Finding vegan Cajun is a little tricky. I do not own a vegan Cajun cookbook. However I found Bryant Terry and he is a vegan soul food chef. He has several cuisines in his Afro Vegan Farm-Fresh cookbook. It is a beautiful book.
Red beans and rice
Considering this is made from dried beans, it takes very little preparation time and is ready in less than three hours. It has a slightly thickened broth thanks to the holy trinity of tasty vegetables.
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb Dried small red beans May use two cans of adsuki beans
- 3 Stalks Celery
- 1 Cup Green bell pepper
- 1 Cup Diced onion
- 5 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Bay Leaves
- 1 Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 Tbsp Cayenne Pepper Adjust to taste
- 1/2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 1/2 Tbsp Thyme I used dried. If using fresh, use 3 -4 sprigs.
- 8 Oz Water
- 1 Tbsp Hickory smoked Salt May use salt and liquid smoke
- 1 Tbsp Course ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp Black Peppercorns Optional
- 3 Cups Cooked rice of choice
- Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes to garnish
- 2 Jalapeño's
- 2 Tbsp Corn meal
Instructions
- Cook rice of choice per instructions. You will want 1/2 cup per bowl of soup.
- Peel and dice onions into a 1/2" dice.
- Slice open bell pepper. Remove seeds and dice into a 1/2" dice.
- Remove strings from celery and dice into a 1/2" dice.
- Chop garlic into a coarse mince.
- Add all seasoning and dried beans to the stock pot with enough water to cover the beans plus 3". Turn cook top on high to bring water to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.
- For the next two hours, check the water level. The water level will go down but you want to make sure the beans are completely covered with water. Make sure to spoon beans up from the bottom to the top in order to cook more evenly.
- When the beans are starting to soften but still somewhat al dente, add the vegetables. Taste the broth and adjust seasoning accordingly.
- Remove caps and seeds from jalapeño's. Slice into 1/8" slices. Place in a bag with cornmeal, salt and pepper.
- Place jalapeños on a pan with a wire rack and place in a convection over at 350 ° F for 20 - 30 minutes or until crispy.
- To serve, remove bay leaves. Ladle into bowls, top with rice, jalapeño slices and garnish of choice.
Notes
This is a Snap Pea Sheep recipe!
Cajun flavor starts with the trinity of bell pepper, celery and onion so those should be the main focus on vegetables.
Thyme and Cayenne are the basis for Cajun flavors. To add a layer of flavor, I added bay leaves and Old Bay seasoning that I blended myself after reading the ingredient label on Old Bay. I have not been able to find an organic version otherwise and choose to use organics.
If you want some additional heartiness, add some fresh chopped tomatoes toward the end to prevent them from melting into the stock. 
