While Monday is the traditional day for red beans in the South, it’s always better the second day and is all about the sides. I decided to pair my leftover beans with a sweet and spicy glazed pork chop. You can always add a side steamed or sautéed vegetable of choice. I had sautéed rainbow Swiss chard that I kept simple with a few seasonings and steamed. I know most people have family recipes for red beans so this is more of an idea for an alternative. I sometimes add additional pork and skip the bell pepper but it really depends on what I am in the mood for. I also made a pitcher of fresh strawberry lemonade that is a great pairing with vodka for the adult version. I’ll save that recipe for a summer cocktail post. 🙂 Below are the ingredients and directions for the beans and the pork chops.
Ingredients Red Beans:
- 1lb Camilla red beans
- 1 lb. sausage of your choice
- 3 large bay leaves
- 12 cups of water
- 1 large yellow onion (1 ½ cups)
- 1 small green bell pepper diced (1 cup)
- 1 tbsp. onion powder
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. sea salt
- 1 tbsp. coarse black pepper
- 1 tbsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 cup of rice
Ingredients Pork Chops:
- 2 thin pork chops (if four, double the dry ingredients below)
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. coarse black pepper
- 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp. honey per chop
Directions:
- Peel and dice onion. Wash and dice bell pepper. Add to a pot over medium heat.
- Stir once the onion and pepper begins to sizzle and add the red beans. Add a ½ cup of water to prevent sticking and let top to contain heat. Once the beans begin to wrinkle, add 4 cups of water until beans are covered in water and bay leaves. Let cook for 1.5 hours.
- Once beans have been cooking for an hour and a half, you should be able to smash some of the beans with the back of your spoon against the side of the pot. This makes the beans creamy. Add another 4 cups of water.
- Slice sausage into ½ inch slices and add sausage and other seasoning.
- Let cook for another hour.
- With 20 minutes left of the hour for the beans, remove chops from fridge and let sit for 10 minutes to remove chill.
- Add the cup of rice to a small pot and rinse and drain with cool water. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil, add a pinch of salt, top it and reduce to low heat. Set timer for 20 minutes.
- Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Season one sider with half of the seasonings excluding the honey and flip over to season the other side. Drizzle honey on top.
- Broil in the oven for 10 minutes. (you can also pan fry it on the stove over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side.) Remove from the oven and turn off oven and stove.
- Plate and enjoy! (You can add 1 tsp. of chopped green onion for garnish if preferred.)