A quick, easy and tasty Cajun style red beans and rice with andouille sausage!
Beans and rice is a classic combination with different versions showing up in various cuisines from around the world. One of my favourite versions is this Cajun style red beans and rice dish which is pure comfort food! Though you could easily keep this dish vegetarian, I like adding andouille sausage, or ham, or bacon to make it even heartier and add more flavour! The base of the dish is the classic combo of onions, celery and bell peppers, followed by garlic, paprika, oregano, and thyme, before adding broth, beans and sausage! This recipe uses canned beans so it takes almost no time to make, about as long as it takes to cook the rice. You can serve the red beans on top of the rice, on the side, mixed, in, etc.
The recipe below is a quick and easy one, but you can build up even more flavour by using dried beans and simmering for a couple of hours with a smoked ham hock! Soak the beans overnight, add 4 extra cups of chicken broth, 2 bay leaves and a ham hock and simmer until the beans are tender, about 1-2 hours.
