My husband is from Louisiana, so Cajun is his middle name. To say he likes all things seafood, spicy and punching with flavor is an understatement. If he could, he would live off gumbo daily! Unfortunately, due to his gout, he no longer can have those tempting bowls of seafood gumbo. Seafood triggers gout terribly and the pain is not worth it…..or barely worth it, he’d say. Since I can’t serve him seafood and definitely not chicken or sausage, I’m left with creating dishes with the flavors of Cajun. Minus the meats, this dish satisfies his taste buds fairly well. I quite enjoy it myself.
If you are unfamiliar with quinoa, it is a grain that is very high in protein and a quality protein at that. There is white quinoa and red quinoa. The red quinoa has a more rustic texture which I love.
Cajun Red Quinoa and Beans
Ingredients
- For the Beans
- 1 lb bag of dry red kidney beans Making them from scratch yields fabulous tasting beans! Do not skimp on these!
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons of paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt
- For the Quinoa
- 1 cup red quinoa not white! my recipe is specific to use the red quinoa for texture
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chili spice or red pepper or cayenne pepper
- Few grinds of fresh ground black pepper
- Veggies
- 1 large green bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 large red onion chopped (130 g, about a cup)
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Ahead of time prepare the red beans according to package directions either overnight or early in the day. I went ahead and used the whole bag just to have extra beans, but you will not need all of them at the time of this recipe. This will need to be done in advance prior to making the quinoa and veggies. Once you have already done the soak method of the beans, you can then cook them. Follow the cooking directions on the back of the bag.
- Prepare the quinoa. Add the quinoa, vegetable broth and all the spices, including the bay leaves, into a pot. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and turn heat to low and cook for 20-25 minutes or until almost all of the water has evaporated, stirring a few times during the cooking process. Once the water is almost gone, turn the heat off, return the lid and leave covered for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork.
- While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Pour a few tablespoons of broth in a large pan and turn the heat to medium low. Add the bell pepper and onion into a large pan. Add some salt and pepper. Once they are almost tender, after 5-10 minutes, add the garlic and cook until all veggies are tender stirring often so the garlic doesnāt burn. Add more broth if necessary. Turn the heat off. Combine the veggies and quinoa. Serve by plating with the quinoa mixture and adding the cooked beans on top. Season with extra salt or cajun spice if desired.
This is so good. Iwas out of Cajun seasoning so I made it without it. It had a great flavor. I cannot wait to make it with the Cajun seasoning.
So happy to hear that Puma!
I have made this about 4-5 times. I absolutely love it. Thanks for posting this recipe!
Woohoo that is awesome Christy!!
I absolutely love this recipe! I have made it several times and it is so good!!!
The flavors and texture is delicious! I high recommend this dish!
Yay, I really love hearing that!
Iām wanting to make red beans and rice and cook dry beans from scratch with seasonings…can you advise how I should adjust this recipe or should I just cook plain red beans and follow your recipe in the Vegan 8 cookbook?
Hi Kristi, yes, I would cook the beans first and use the recipe from my book! š
Hahaha. I did it anyway. I used white organic quinoa and it was perfecto. Your directions are like huh? I cooked my beans with the seasoning and did not drain. I added a boilion cube, without adding the second salt for the quinoa. I used about 2 1/2 cups of quinoa instead of 1, cause the amount of liquid left over from the beans (did not drain) would have made a soup.. oh my word! Best ever.. thanks for sharing. This will be my new healthy obsession
Glad you loved it so much!
I was hoping for a gumbo recipe. Have you made any of those. I know when I find a recipe by you it will be delicious. I share your recipes and always recommend people look here first for what they want to veganize.
Aww you are so, so sweet, thank you so much Donna! I don’t have a gumbo recipe, but my hubby (being from Louisiana) has begged me to come up with one. I don’t know how I would do it with just 8 ingredients though, but I will try to create a very simplified version!
I have yet to try this
It’s quite delicious with a good kick of spice, it’s one of my very oldest recipes, but a delicious one! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
“Ok I just made this for my family and they all loved it – all three kids and husband!! This is definitely a keeper. Great flavors and just delicious!! Thanks Brandi!!
I’m so happy to hear you and your kids loved it so much! Thank you so much for trying my recipes and leaving feedback. It is so much appreciated!! š
Plan to make this tomorrow – beans are soaking now. I’ll let you know how it is!!
I agree…I LOVE spicy dishes! This one isn’t overly spicy so you could always add more cayenne pepper if you like! I like them spicy without overpowering the other flavors. Let me know if you try it! š
I’ll definitely let you know š
This sounds awesome! If I don’t have spicy, some kick, at least a couple of times a week, it feels like something’s missing….I may have to make this one today.. Thanks for my meal today lol!
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