Red Beans and Rice with Sausage

My friend was talking about a Mardi Gras dinner coming up and I thought that sounds good. We normally make jambalaya. My grandma used to make dirty rice too. I thought red beans and rice sounded good. So I found this recipe from a cajun restaurant called Treebread. It looked easy enough. So I thought I'd try it out.

It came out good. A little soupy, but thats okay. Everything else was cooked perfectly. If you don't like the soupyness, It can easily be fixed with a slotted serving spoon.

This can easily be made vegetarian, if you don't add the sausage.



Ingredients
1 lb dried red kidney beans
6 cups water
2 medium onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, with leaves, chopped
1/2 large bell pepper, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 1/4 teaspoons garlic powder
1 can diced tomatoes (I used the flavored variety with peppers)
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
1 lb smoked sausage, cut in 1/2-inch slices

1. Sort and wash red beans. In a large soup pot, add 6 cups cold water and red beans. Let soak overnight.
2. Add onions, celery, and bell pepper to beans and bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat to simmer about 1 1/2 hours, or until beans are soft.
3.Stir in seasonings, tomatoes and sausage. Simmer 30 minutes more.
4. Meanwhile cook a pot of rice, when done, stir rice into pot of beans
5. Serve while hot