So long, Swine.

Now obviously I said bye to pork a few months ago but tonights recipe scared me...  Yes, I said it. I was scared of trying to make this meal without the pig.


You see... I am a good Southern girl and when you talk about making a pot of beans I just immediately see the ham bone and meat in those beans, giving them flavor. How was I going to make vegetarian beans and rice that would give you that flavor, that comfort without the animal? I was worried but I took a deep breath and gave it my best.


My inspiration


I used...
1/4 to 1/2 onion
4 stalks celery
3 cloves garlic
1/2 green and 1/2 red bell pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tbs liquid smoke
assorted spices - pepper, red pepper flakes, slap ya mama
some veggie stock
and water as needed


I cooked and froze a few 28oz bags of red kidney beans a few weeks ago so I used two of those so it'd be the same if you had canned beans. Put them in a pan with their liquid. The inspiration link walks you through cooking the beans from dry if you need that.


I put all the veggies in the food processor 



And pulsed them to death!



Add the mush to the pan, add bay leaves and spices



Get the pan boiling and then let it simmer, it cooks down so watch the liquid level. you don't want the liquid all gone.



I took a good portion of beans out and processed them and added them back to the pan. This is when I added in some veggie stock. you want it to be creamy, not dry.



This recipe can really be tweaked a million ways based on what your family likes. The liquid smoke really gives it that hearty taste in the place of ham. 



~Venus