MWL Food

Red Bean Gumbo Mixed with Brown Jasmine Rice in Bowl

Red Bean Gumbo in a Pan

Chopped Green Pepper, Onion, Kale, & Celery with Pressed Garlic

Red Bean Gumbo Ingredients

This is a Mary McDougall Newsletter Recipe. 

“RED BEAN GUMBO

1/2 cup water
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
6 cups vegetable broth
1  14.5 ounce can Cajun-style stewed tomatoes
1  8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons ground oregano
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
several twists of fresh ground pepper
1  15 ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1  15 ounce can red beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups chopped greens (kale, chard, spinach, etc.)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2-4 cups hot brown basmati or jasmine rice

Place the water, onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic in a large pot.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.  Add vegetable broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce and seasonings.  Bring to a boil, cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.  Add beans and greens (not parsley) and cook an additional 10 minutes.  Stir in parsley.

To serve, place 1/2 cup of the rice in the bottom of a soup bowl.  Ladle gumbo over the rice and mix well before eating.” 

Letha’s Notes:  I’ve never had traditional Gumbo but based on what I’ve read about it, the use of the word Gumbo to describe this recipe might be a bit of a stretch.  Plus I served it over brown jasmine rice which probably didn’t help to make it resemble authentic Gumbo.  I just love the smell of jasmine rice.  I liked this dish and in fact, of the many ways I’ve tried to eat kale this past year, this is my favorite.  I couldn’t find the Cajun-style stewed tomatoes called for in the recipe so I used diced tomatoes and a ½ teaspoon of Creole seasoning I picked up at the market.  I pressed the garlic instead of mincing it. I left out the parsley & used two cans of red beans instead of 1 red and 1 kidney, only because that’s what I had on hand.  While gathering the ingredients I grabbed the salt off the counter and it ended up in the photo of the ingredients but I didn’t use it in the recipe.  Lots of leftovers so if this holds up in the fridge it’s destined to become one of my new favorites.

"A Veggie, Rice, & Chickpea Love Affair" Served With Hominy

Chopped Veggies, Lemon, Maple Syrup, Chickpeas, Oregano, Basil,

Red, Yellow, & Orange Bell Pepper, Broccoli, & Garlic

This recipe was posted by potatolicious over on the McDougall discussion forum.  She modified it from a recipe posted on vegweb.    

“A Veggie, Rice and Chickpea Love Affair

PAN 1
1 each yellow pepper, orange and red pepper
1 broccoli (crown only) cut into small florets
1 teaspoon basil
2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons water
PAN 2
2 cups chickpeas
3 cups brown rice (cooked)
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1cup water
3 -4 tablespoons lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

PAN 1
Chop all veggies into small pieces, add to pan.
In a measuring cup, add basil, maple syrup, and water. Mix then add to veggies.
Cook covered on medium low heat until veggies reach your desired tenderness.

PAN 2
Put chickpeas and rice in pan.
In a measuring cup, add garlic, water, lemon juice, oregano, pepper and salt. Mix then add to rice/bean mix.
Bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer until the majority of liquid is gone.

Add the bean/rice mixture to veggies.

It was delicious. Because of its lighter flavor, it’s a nice change from more heavily spiced dishes. I think it would be great in the summer.

Enjoy!”

Letha’s notes:  This was very good.  I’ve tried a couple of recipes in recent months with lemon or lime on hot cooked rice and found it surprisingly tasty.  I also enjoyed chopping up all those pretty peppers.  The next time I make this I plan to simplify the recipe a bit.  I’ll put everything but the cooked rice in a large skillet and simmer it for 10 to 15 minutes before stirring in the cooked rice.  One less pan to wash.