Vegan Red Beans & Rice

Finally! My first shared recipe. This is one I just made up on my own, and is has become a staple in our house. It's a great low calorie, protein packed dinner, and the best part of all? You can freeze it, and it tastes even better when it's defrosted.

Vegan Red Beans & Rice

1/2 large sweet yellow onion, diced
2-3 cremini mushrooms (or any variety), diced
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. vegetable paste/bouillon
1 1/2 tbsp. hot sauce
1 tsp. Emeril's essence
1/2 tsp. paprika
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of salt and pepper
1/2 large green bell pepper
1 package Trader Joes' soy chorizo
1 16 oz. can kidney beans
2 cups chopped kale
1 bag Trader Joes' frozen brown rice
1 tbsp. maple syrup (or other sweetener)

First, place a large sauté pan on the stove over medium/high heat with a small amount of cooking spray. When heated, add onion and sauté until onions have released natural liquid. Meanwhile, place bag of frozen rice in the microwave for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic to pan and sauté for 1 minute. Add hot sauce and all spices, including vegetable paste/bouillon. Sautè 2 minutes and make sure spices are equally distributed. Add soy chorizo and sauté 1 minute. Add kale and kidney beans and stir until thoroughly heated. TURN OFF HEAT. Add microwaved rice to the mix and drizzle in maple syrup.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition facts: 
393 calories, 21 grams protein per serving.

*Because I consume almost entirely healthy fats and almost no added sugar, I really only carefully track calories and protein. This has worked for me, but it all depends on your diet...and how much time you have!

Additional tips:

-If you don't like mushrooms, feel free to omit them. I use them simply to allow me to use less oil when cooking, since mushrooms release lots of natural juices and are low calorie, not to mention completely unrefined! If you don't want to use them, then I suggest 1 tbsp. peanut/coconut oil.

-You can really throw in any vegetables you have around - broccoli, carrots, celery, etc. - to make a dirty rice mix. I had some kale to use up, so I added it in for an extra nutritional boost, and it was delicious!

-If you don't have maple syrup on hand, brown sugar will work well. Since I avoid all processed sugars, however, if I am watching calories I will also use Stevia as a replacement. Any sweetener will do. I've also made it without sweetener and it's quite delicious as is.

-If meat substitutions freak you out, do without the soy chorizo. Meat eaters, throw some sausage, ground beef, or chicken strips in. Vegetarians, just add some extra kidney beans and maybe a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast to add some richness to the flavor.

-Try this piled onto some lettuce or collard green wraps. Top with a few slices of avocado - AWESOME.

Cheers,
[Wanna-Be] Housewife