Ingredients
• 1 can red beans
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ½ package (2-1/2 oz) fake bacon (I used LightLife Smart Bacon)
• 1 cup chopped yellow onions
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped red peppers
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (or more!) freshly ground black pepper
• 1 fresh cayenne pepper, chopped (optional)
• Cayenne powder to taste
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• Two fake dinner sausages (6 oz), split in half lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces (I used Italian Smart Sausages. I suspect Polish would be better)
• Up to 8 chopped garlic cloves (depends on how much you love garlic, this is a lot)
• 1-1/2 red bean cans vegetable stock, or water
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions, garnish
Directions
In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the fake bacon and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the onions, celery and peppers to the grease in the pot. Season with the salt, pepper, chopped cayenne pepper and cayenne powder, and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes. Add the bay leaves, parsley, thyme, and fake sausage, and cook, stirring, to brown the sausage about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the beans and stock or water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken, one to two hours. (Should the beans become too thick and dry, add more water, about 1/4 cup at a time.)
Remove from the heat and with the back of a heavy spoon, mash about 1/4 of the beans against the side of the pot. Continue to cook until the beans are tender and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves.
Serve over rice and garnish with green onions.
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The original recipe is at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/red-beans-and-rice-recipe2/index.html.
How I modified it:
The original recipe is for eight servings. I cut this about in half, and there’s less meat, so it’s good for 3 or 4 depending how hungry you are. We got three large servings out of it.
I replaced Emeril’s bacon grease, tasso or ham, smoked sausage, and smoked ham hocks with meat substitutes.
Emeril also has you wash, sort, soak and then cook the beans from scratch, but I used a can of organic large red beans because I have a life.
I used homegrown red peppers instead of green Bell peppers because they were what I had, plus green peppers tend to give me heartburn.
I also added some smoke flavoring, because I thought that otherwise there wouldn’t be enough smokiness from the meat substitutes. Using smoked peppers might have been good.
I amped up the garlic and pepper. Use lesser amounts if you aren’t that bold or are cooking for (most) kids.
It cooked for a little more than an hour because I got a late start. Doubtless it would be better after two hours.
