The Perfect Meal for Monday

We love red beans and rice here. So good it makes your heart sing. My whole life I've heard that you eat red beans and rice on Mondays, so that's what we do. (It's a good, slow cooking, not much attention, meal for washday.) And, don't let it fool you. This sounds (and might look) like a winter dish, but it's completely appropriate in the summer, too. Just use your crockpot for the beans (or buy canned).

First, you cook the beans. These were cooked with a ham bone, so that's why you can see some of the fat in the broth. If you aren't a fan, you can chill the beans, then take the chilled fat off the top. Or be lazy like me. It's all good.

Beans take 2-3 hours to cook stovetop. Or like I said, use your crockpot. I do all day on low, half a day on high (how's that for exact?). Once the beans are cooked, use a wooden spoon to mash about 1/4 of them into the broth. It'll make the whole bean dish thicker.

I prefer the contrasting texture of smooth beans and vegetables that still have some body, so I add everything else at the end. This is 1/2 lb andouille, onions, a bell pepper, and celery (the trinity). Cook all that up, then dump it into the pot of beans.

Serve over white rice (and don't be like me--at least take the time to wipe off the rim of the bowl). The perfect slow cooked Monday dish while you do laundry (you do your laundry on Monday, right??).

I'm linked to Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam today!