Cajun Black Beans and Rice

It's Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday as it's commonly known! Time to party it up Carnivale-Style before abstaining from certain fatty foods, drink and habits during the six weeks of Lent. I don't follow the traditional Christian "don't eat meat on Friday" rules, but I know many of you do. Actually, that's one of the reasons I started Seafood Frenzy Friday's almost a year ago as well. 

Anyway, I'm a novice when it comes to creole and cajun style cooking as I didn't grow up in the south and my family didn't cook with many of the flavors associated with that style of cooking either. So I wanted to ease into the process this year by making a simple Cajun Black Beans and Rice dish to celebrate. Many times before I try a new recipe I'll search for it online. I find three to five different recipes just to get the gist of what goes in it so that I can pull out the parts I think me and my family will like and try to replicate the flavors. Now as most of you know, most cajun rice recipes call for peppers, but you will not see any in here because we don't like peppers. Any of them! Raw. Cooked. Hot. Sweet. Nothing. You may or may not have noticed that the only thing I make with peppers is Sausage and Peppers and even when I eat that, I don't eat the pepper or onion part. I just like it for the flavor. See, everyone has their little quirks! 

I also don't like a lot of "heat" in my food, so when I took a taste of this rice with the 2 tablespoons of Louisiana Hot Sauce, my mouth was on fire! It was REALLY GOOD, don't get me wrong, but just a little too hot for my liking. If you don't like your food spicy either, I suggest starting off with 2 teaspoons of hot sauce, then add more if you like your food with a kick! 

Cajun Black Beans and Rice

2 c. Cooked Rice (I used White Rice)

1-15oz. Can Black Beans, rinsed

1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Scallion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

1 Plum Tomato, diced

1 Garlic Clove, minced

1/2 tsp. Dried Oregano

1/4 tsp. Dried Thyme

1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt

2 tbsp. Louisiana Hot Sauce (more or less depending on your preference)

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions. 

2. Heat the oil to a large, nonstick saute pan, then add the scallions, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, thyme, salt and hot sauce. 

3. Saute until the tomatoes start to soften, then add in the rice and beans. 

4. Mix well and adjust your seasonings as needed. Makes 8- 1/2 Cup Servings. 

*Nutritional Information per Serving: Calories 114, Carbs 19.4g, Fat 2.1g, Protein 3.8g, Fiber 2.5g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into CalorieCount and may not be 100% accurate.

Enjoy!

Behind the Scenes...

I was planning out my blog posts for this week on my monthly calendar, when I realized I didn't have any recipes to share for Mardi Gras. I started to search for different recipes, but nothing that I could make quickly until I saw that rice was a popular creole/cajun dish to make. The night before I had made some extra rice to go with our dinner so in 5 minutes I decided to make this Cajun Black Beans and Rice. While I was cooking I was thinking about what props to use in the photo shoot and remembered my daughter still had her mask and beads from her Sweet 16 party. The entire dish was ready in 15 minutes, photographed, edited and completed into this post all within an hour.