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Red Beans and Rice Recipe

Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 3 cups of red kidney beans or any other beans that you like
  • 1 cup of mushrooms
  • 1 medium sized carrot
  • 2 bell peppers I used 1 green and 1 red
  • 1 head of red onion
  • 1 plum tomato
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 dried red pepper
  • 1 cup of red lentils
  • Season with bay leaf paprika powder, dried thyme, dried oregano, salt and black pepper

For the rice:

  • 2 cups of basmati rice
  • 4 cups of water
  • A pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Soak the beans overnight.
  2. Before you start cooking, get rid of the soaking water and wash the beans.
  3. Add them to a soup pot and cover with water.
  4. Now comes a secret from my grandmother - when the water comes to a boil - get rid of it. She told me that the first boiling takes out the chemical, the one that can make your belly hurt, out of the beans. So you need to get rid of the first boiling water and rinse the beans one more time.
  5. Now you can start with the cooking.

Have your vegetables ready:

  1. Chop the peppers into small chunks, finely chop the garlic and onions, cut the carrots into small strips, chop the tomatoes into small pieces, tear the dried peppers and slice the mushrooms.
  2. Add all the ingredients, together with the beans and all the seasoning to a pot. Don’t put the red lentils yet - they will come in after an hour of cooking. Fill up the pot with water - choose a pot that can fit all of that, having in mind that the water needs to be double than the ingredients.
  3. When it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium, and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
  4. Meanwhile cook your basmati rice.
  5. Using a small pot, add 2 cups of basmati and 4 cups of water. Season with salt and put on the heat. As soon as it starts boiling, put the lid on, lower the heat, and let simmer for 10-12 minutes. When the water has evaporated, you can take it off the heat and let it stay covered for another 15 minutes. This way of cooking will give you as a result fluffy and delicious rice.
  6. Now add the red lentils, and cook for another hour - and don’t forget to stir as the red lentils tends to stick to the bottom and burn.
  7. You can always add another cup of water, while cooking, if you think it evaporates fast.
  8. After 2 hours of cooking, you can taste your stew and adjust the seasoning.
  9. Serve with the cooked basmati and enjoy!