How to dress up red beans and rice from a box

[Mysterian]

How to dress up red beans and rice from a box?​

If you want to dress up red beans and rice IN a box, I recommend this decorative box cover:

Your guests will love this aesthetically pleasing décor with a tasty Southern surprise inside!

 

[DLgal]

I'm planning on making the red beans recipe from Tony Chachere's. But again, my issues are that it's calling for 4 cups of chopped green onions (which I'm only going to add as a garnish) and it mentions garlic, but not in the ingredients list. I'll also add red and green bell peppers and celery.

Wasn't sure what beans to get. I got "small red beans" from WM as well as light red kidney beans. I see so many different recommendations. I was thinking maybe dark red kidney beans, but I could only find those canned. I soaked the small red beans overnight and now they're pale pink, kind of like how I see pinto beans lose their spots once soaked. I suppose color isn't really that important.

You NEED the onions. If you don't want to use green, use yellow and put in one cup chopped. You cannot skip the onions.

 

[bcla]

You NEED the onions. If you don't want to use green, use yellow and put in one cup chopped. You cannot skip the onions.

Not skipping the onions. The recipe actually calls for 2 cups onion and 4 cups green onions. I'm still thinking it's a typo on the green onions. One cup takes maybe 4 typical bunches.

https://www.tonychachere.com/recipe/red-beans-and-rice/​

Ingredients​

• 
  3 Cups Dried Red Beans
• 
  1 Tablespoon Oil
• 
  1 Tablespoon Flour
• 
  2 Cups Onions, Chopped
• 
  1 Pound Smoked Sausage
• 
  2 Tablespoons Tony’s Original Creole Seasoning
• 
  4 Cups Green Onions, Chopped

 

[bcla]

I tried making some more from scratch last night but just pieced together what I had and what I could find. Beans this time were light red kidney beans. I’ve heard of substitutions with just about any other kind of dried beans. Red and green bell peppers, red onions, one shallot, Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning, chopped garlic, garlic powder, a little bit of thyme, celery, and bay leaves. The meat was kind of random - half hot smoked sausage and half bratwurst.

And I finally found liquid smoke. Got Colgin’s mesquite although the same place had hickory. I don’t have a smoked ham hock bone, so that’s going to have to do.

Serving it on steamed rice does seem a bit weird though. I’ve tried just heating up the whole concoction by mixing the steamed rice (might be cold) with the beans in a small pot for smaller servings.

 

[Babs Johnson]

If you want to dress up red beans and rice IN a box, I recommend this decorative box cover:

Your guests will love this aesthetically pleasing décor with a tasty Southern surprise inside!

My mother and grandmother had macrame boxes like that to hide unsightly Kleenex boxes. The designs on the cardboard apparently weren’t good enough.

 

[justafigment27]

Zatarain’s red beans and rice with Eckrich Farms smoked Turkey sausage is one of my go to “nobody wants to cook” pantry meals. The sausage freezes/defrosts easily, so I’ll buy several when they are on sale at Meijer. I slice the sausage and throw it in during the last 5 minutes or so if cooking because I fell like the flavor somehow dilutes if I throw it in at the beginning.

 

[serenitynow]

Chop up and fry some SPAM. Or if it’s a few days till payday, fried bologna strips add tons of flavor On the cheap

 

[bcla]

I got an 11 lb spiral cut ham from Target last week. Interesting trying to deal with it, but after consuming pieces I pulled off most of the ham to freeze in plastic bags, and I've got the bone left over. I guess it wasn't sliced at the end so that part is solid.

I plan on using the bone for the from scratch red beans and rice recipe. I also recently got some Colgin's hickory liquid smoke. I got the mesquite version earlier and it's definitely a different flavor profile. And all that ham would seem to be convenient as a protein.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I wouldn't bother with the liquid smoke if you have a ham bone--save it for when you have something less flavorful. The ham bone should flavor things nicely. Taste before you add extra salt--some hams are very salty.

In our house, it's generally split pea soup that's made with a ham bone. The only seasoning I use is a little pepper, a bay leaf, and a touch of marjoram. Feel free to experiment!

 

[bcla]

I wouldn't bother with the liquid smoke if you have a ham bone--save it for when you have something less flavorful. The ham bone should flavor things nicely. Taste before you add extra salt--some hams are very salty.

In our house, it's generally split pea soup that's made with a ham bone. The only seasoning I use is a little pepper, a bay leaf, and a touch of marjoram. Feel free to experiment!

I've actually used ham and to reduce the salt I've soaked it. Didn't do it with the bone though since I want that flavor. I rather like it smoky.

Also - I found a recipe that recommended taking some of the beans out to turn into a puree to give it a head start on being "creamy". I tried that with an immersion blender and it does change it somewhat.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Not quite the same, but I have a delicious recipe for white bean and rosemary soup. I like it semi-pureed, so the beans have some texture to them, and find an immersion blender allows me the control. You could go silky smooth, too, but I like it a little chunky.

 

[ahutton]

If making it from a box I use a chubb of breakfast sausage, 4 stalks of celery, a bell pepper a small regular onion two diced carrots and a bunch of fresh parsley chopped and then a 1/2 tsp dried mint.