the poverty luxe kitchen vol. 22: red beans + rice.

one of my big personal goals for this year was to try out more recipes and to get more comfortable and creative in the kitchen. the main reason i made this goal is because i have a bad habit of settling into a routine and just making the same four or five dinners over and over again, which makes me really sad because everyone here is actually pretty adventurous with food and i feel like were missing out on SO many great new things because i just make the same recipes over and over again. another lame side effect of this habit is that sometimes a meal slips off the rotation, gets forgotten for months and months, before i remember how great it is and start making it again. 

this is one of those recipes. 

i used to make red beans and rice pretty frequently, and there was ALWAYS a jar (or three) of them in the freezer for when we needed a super fast and easy dinner. i guess its simplicity is what made me forget how great it is, but with the last few months being so crazy with work (for james), school (for me) and having a new baby, red beans and rice are officially back on the rotation. why? because its a dinner thats not only super healthy and dirt cheap, but also takes zero effort in the crock pot. 

you know those crock pot recipes that are so complicated you might as well actually cook them? this is not one of those recipes. theres some chopping, some putting things in the crock pot, some button pushing, and then you get to do whatever for a few hours. all you have to do at dinner time is make rice. actually typing this reminds me that i need to go get some kidney beans...

red beans and rice. 

(makes 8 servings)

heres what you need: 

1 lb dried kidney beans, soaked overnight. 

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 onion

3 ribs of celery

1 green bell pepper

2 tablespoons creole seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

heres what you do: 

place soaked beans in crock pot and cover with 1 inch of water. 

finely chop garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper and add to beans. 

add creole seasoning and season with salt and pepper to taste (i add lots of pepper but no salt because the creole seasoning i use already has salt)

cook on low for 4-6 hours. serve over steamed white rice. 

to be completely honest, i dont use my crock pot a whole lot, what are your favorite crock pot recipes?