Rice and beans are often made to bring good luck to the new year. In New Orleans, red beans and rice are cooked and consumed with fervor on Mondays. Spicy Caribbean recipes for beans and rice were brought to the city in the late 1700s by French-speaking Haitians fleeing the revolution in Saint Domingue (modern-day Haiti).

Local families quickly adapted the thrifty, convenient practice of tossing meaty, ham-bone leftovers from Sunday suppers into simmering pots of red kidney beans that could be left to cook undisturbed over a low flame for hours – leaving them free to engage in the arduous Monday drudgery that was “laundry day.” Despite the modern conveniences of washing machines and dryers, the Monday red beans tradition continues today, often in a slow cooker while the cook is at the office.

Red beans are great when cooked down with meat, and modern cooks are as apt to season their pots with smoked sausage (preferably andouille), pickled pork or a store-bought smoked ham hock as they are the leftover ham of Sunday suppers. Restaurants frequently offer grilled sausage, a fried or grilled pork chop, or even fried chicken alongside the traditional plate of red beans and rice. If you are a vegetarian, feel free to substitute a vegan sausage of your choice.  

Pableaux Johnson was a New Orleans-based food writer and photographer who passed away recently and has left behind a powerful legacy of Southern recipes and foodways. His recipe relies on using dried red beans, but if you want you can use canned red beans. He offers a delicious and healthy version of this traditional dish. Enjoy and I hope the dish brings you luck in the new year.

Pableaux Johnson’s Monday Night Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

1 lb. red kidney beans (soaked)

1 lb. smoked sausage, preferably andouille, sliced into coins

3 tablespoons oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 rib celery, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced

Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning (or any other brand of Creole seasoning)

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon dried basil

Pinch-rubbed sage

3 bay leaves

Crystal Hot Sauce (or another brand of your choice) 

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, minced

Cooked rice for serving

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large heavy pot. Brown the sausage, stirring frequently to render as much fat as possible. When well browned, remove the sausage from the pot and drain the fat on paper towels. Add onions to the pot and season with lots of Tony’s Creole seasoning, salt and pepper.

Cook onions over medium heat, stirring frequently until well browned. Add garlic and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add celery and bell pepper and cook until they’re translucent.

Drain water off the soaked red beans, and add the beans to the pot. Cover with fresh water. Rub the basil between the palms of your hands as you add it to the pot. Add sage and bay leaves. Add sausage back to the pot and stir well.

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until beans are tender. Cook for about 1 to 1.5 hours. When the beans are tender, mash some with a potato masher until the mixture looks creamy.

Stir in the chopped green onions and most of the parsley, reserving some parsley for diners to add at the table. Season well with Crystal Hot Sauce.

Serve hot with cooked white rice, extra parsley and more hot sauce.

— By Deborah Binder

Deborah Binder lives in Edmonds with her family. She loves to cook from scratch using produce from the gardens she created and maintains with her husband. She attended culinary school on the East Coast and focused on desserts, pastries and bread. She’s worked for restaurants and caterers in the front and back of the house (kitchen) on both coasts. Her current interest in food is learning to eat for health and wellness, while at the same time enjoying the pleasures of the table. Deborah loves experimenting and developing new recipes. As Julia Child once said, “Everything in moderation including butter.” Deborah can be contacted at [email protected].