This is a hearty one pot meal for a cold night. You can put it together with minimal fuss, so this is also a great dish to make on a busy work day. This is a flexible recipe – use any kind of rice, veggies and beans you like. I used a blend of brown rice, red rice, barley and rye. My vegetable of choice was broccoli. You could use mushrooms, peas, cauliflower, roasted eggplant or roasted winter squash. Many Cajun dishes like gumbo and jambalaya get their smokey flavor from smoked Andouille sausage. I used liquid smoke and some smokehouse almonds to get that wonderful smokey flavor; the crunch from the almonds is a definite bonus.
Cajun Brown Rice with Veggies and Red Beans
makes 4-6 servings
1 large onion
2 ribs celery
1 red or green pepper
4 cloves garlic or 1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 ½ tsp dried thyme
2 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke, optional
2 cups Brown rice
4 cups stock or water (you might need more or less depending on the type of rice you use)
2 cups Broccoli florets
1, 16 oz can of Red kidney beans
1, 16 oz can of Sweet corn
½ cup Smokehouse almonds
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Finely chop the onion, celery and pepper. Mince the garlic. Drain the sweet corn. Drain and rinse the red kidney beans. Chop the almonds into small bits.
Heat oil in a large deep pot. Add the onion, celery and red or green pepper. Saute on medium heat till the onion is translucent. Now add the garlic, paprika, thyme, Tabasco and liquid smoke. Saute 30 seconds.
Add the rice to the pot, stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the salt, pepper and stock or water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, place a lid on the pot and let the rice cook on a low simmer. Cooking time for the rice will depend on the type of rice you are using. Read the instructions on the rice package for cooking times. Mine took about 45 minutes.
In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli florets to the rice, stir and put the lid back on. Let the broccoli florets steam for about 5 minutes.
Then check rice for doneness – rice must be completely cooked but not mushy and all the liquid should be absorbed. Once rice is cooked, stir in the beans, sweet corn and almonds. Mix well and turn off heat. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
Oh this looks awesome.. i'm a big fan of the beans & rice dish from lean cuisine and I this is far more nutritious with all the veggies & the brown rice. Bookmarking to try – still haven't had a chance to try your fabulous curry leaves rice as well.
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Great pic Sala..:)Definitely a healthy meal..:)
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looks amazingly delicious!!! loved the smoky flavour you have added to it!
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This looks amazing. You know, I have always LOVED brown rice, since childhood. I just can’t for the life of me understand the bad rep it has. Brown rice is so nutty and has wonderful texture. Add veggies and beans and I’m sold!
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This looks great! I have several bags of brown rice, and this would be a great idea for them!
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This is an exact my kinda meal! Love it, love it! last weekend I made Barley, beans & Veggie salad. No mess, no fuss but lot of sensation:-)
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Oh, I am so loving this lightened up version of red beans and rice and the almonds sound absolutely wonderful in it!
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love the recipe… it looks so colorful and I like the addition of beans and almonds – very healthy
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i need to make this – it looks so yummy and healthy. thanks for sharing!
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everytime I visit your blog, i am just speechless after seeing your pics! you are an amazing photographer. i really enjoy visiting your blog.
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Your pictures are stunning!!!! I love this recipe! Although I am not vegetarian, I do enjoy meatless meals often! THanks!!!
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Fabulous color, beans and brown rice are so yummy!
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Hey Sala, Brown Rice with veggies and Red Beans looks awsome and very healthy too.
My husband is just crazy about brown rice and I dont like it at all, but am getting inspiration from ur snaps and the method of cooking. Can we make the rice in a rice cooker instead in a pot as u mentioned? Will it have the same taste?
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Healthful!This is as good as a rice dish can be with loads of veggies and beans:)
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This rice looks fantastic – so healthy and full of wonderful flavors! Yum!
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Love the rice dish and love the vibrant colour, beautiful and delicious.
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This looks and sounds delicious! One-pot dishes are so great when living in a tiny apartment like I do. Love the colours of the vegetables and the mix of rice and grains. Thanks for another lovely, inspirational recipe!
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This reminds me of the rissotto I made but there is some difference too. Will try this soon. What is that thing next to the fork in the last picture? Just curious about the flowery ending in silver!!
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What a delicous way to incorporate the brown rice and beans. Love the smoky flavor of almonds too. Ur pic re always mind blowing Sala!
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Very vibrant (my kind of dish) and delicious recipe.
Cheers,
elra
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I love the smoked almonds in your dish!
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Cajun Brown rice with veggies looks healthy n easy.
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i love cajun flavors, and this is a beautiful dish! i’m glad you mentioned the crunch from the almonds, because that’d likely be my favorite part!
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We make red beans and rice all the time around here. It’s one of my favorite meals. Great way to lighten it up!
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This looks so colorful and delicious! The rice and grain combination sounds great.
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I’ve been craving real Cajun flavors recently but didn’t know which seasonings to use – thanks for this recipe!
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This looks so delicious. I love rice and beans, it’s always so filling. Thanks for the recipe!
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sounds DELICIOUS
love rice and cajun flavoring!
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So colorful and delicious!!!!
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this looks so bright. colourful and tempting
yum!
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That looks so deliciously yummy!
I didn’t know you were near DC
Let me know if you go to Hawaii, I can definitely give tips, and I’ve been to all the islands!
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This looks wonderful, I have bookmarked your blog!
Yeah, I am glad I found it!
cindy
http://vegetarianmamma.blogspot.com
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This looks really hearty and good for you.
I have liquid smoke and have done nothing with it so far! Now I know where to use it. Thanks for the idea.
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Wow this looks truly awesome, loved the flavors you have used in this dish
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first time here and a very interesting blog with variety of recipes. this one pot dinner looks awesome. I would love to prepare it,
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i have got almost all the ingredients in my pantry. guess this is what we gonna have this weekend
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Sunshinemon, thats a napkin ring I picked up in Morocco. Its flexible so you can twist it into different shapes.
You can see it better in this picture:
http://www.veggiebelly.com/2009/02/muhammara-walnut-pomegranate-dip.html
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Just stumbled onto your blog. This dish is amazing. Your picture is gorgeous. I am not vegetarian but do cook meals such as this sometimes. I am definitely trying this one! I love everything you put into it!
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You make healthy food and vegetarian food so fantastically attractive.
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Mmmm, looks very very good.
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That rice looks really tasty!
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this looks great, and i love the combination of flavours and spices.
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wow, this recipe looks so healthy and yummy!!! Great way to cook brown rice, which by the way I have in my pantry kitchen for months (arg..)now I know how I’m gonna cook them. Thanks
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That is a great looking dish, so colorful and healthy
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Hello – I’m in the midst of making this recipe, and it turns out that the rice is taking about 1.5 hours to cook. I make brown rice a lot and don’t typically have issues with it taking over 50 mins to cook. Any ideas on how I can correct this when I try this recipe again? It looks so good, I just want to make it properly. Thanks!
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
May 26th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Cooking time may vary depending on the rice you are using. My brown rice usually takes about 45 minutes. You could try using pre-cooked microwaveable brown rice next time – saute everything else and then stir in the precooked brown rice.
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I made this tonight and mostly it is delis! There is one flavor that is a bit bitter, any idea what it might be? I would cut down on that flavor next time if I can decide which one it is. Thanks!
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This is a fantastic rice dish. I’ve made it once, but it’s now a favorite, and I will make it again. Thank you.
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