Freezer Food Friday

Thanks to What a Crock! for hosting Freezer Food Friday. This is my first time participating but it won't be my last. Participating in the memes seems to help me stay on track.

Tonight's menu is Red Beans and Wild Rice. I don't freeze the rice but the beans freeze beautifully and tonight they're going to contain some of the leftover 'smoked' chicken a la crock, chopped. Yum!!

We love to eat red beans and rice with hot water cornbread but that's really a carb-a-rific meal so we'll not have the cornbread tonight.

There are a lot of great recipes for Red Beans but we don't like ours too hot and spicy. Savory, yes, flavorful, yes, but not so hot we can't eat them. So here's how we prepare them.

1 pound dry red kidney beans, rinsed, sorted, and soaked for at least 6 hours
2 green onions, stalk and all
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup meat(I use turkey ham or chicken, ground beef, homemade turkey sausage, etc.)
1 to 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Additional seasonings such as pepper, etc.

Pour the water off the beans, put the beans in a soup pot or slow cooker, and add water to two inches above the beans. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and meat and bring to a boil. Boil 10 minutes then reduce heat to simmer and let simmer (or cook on low if using a slow cooker) until done. Add the chicken bouillon and creole seasoning and let cook another 30 minutes or so.

To prepare the rice, use two cups of water to each cup of rice. Boil the water then reduce to a simmer and add the rice and any seasonings you like. I add just a little chopped green onion and garlic. Bring to a boil again, reduce to simmer, cover and let cook about 45 minutes. Wild rice has a crunchier texture than white rice so if you haven't eaten it before, don't expect it to cook up as soft as white rice.

Put some of the rice into a bowl and top with the beans, including the pot liquor, which should be fairly thick and rich. I like to garnish mine with a little cilantro and chopped fresh tomato.

After you've eaten your fill, freeze the remainder of the beans in air tight containers. When you're ready to eat some more, let them thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in a sauce pan or microwave.