Red Beans and Rice - The Ultimate Frugal Recipe

I know that eating beans & rice is considered a cliche in the Frugal World, but somehow I managed to get through 39 years without ever actually making it (except for the odd Zatarain's Jambalaya or Uncle Bens Side Dish).  With the help and tweaking of some cookbook and the internet recipes, I came up with this version yesterday.  The best part?  It's made in a crockpot!

Crockpot Beans and Rice

• 1 ½ cups (about a half-package) dried dark red kidney beans, soaked, drained & rinsed
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup, more or less to your taste)
• 3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• ½ vegetable bouillon cube
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 (14 ½ ounce can stewed tomatoes, undrained (get the italian seasoned one, if possible)
• 1 4 oz can diced green chilis
• ½ cup marinara sauce (homemade is best - Ragu/Prego will work fine too)
• Hot pepper sauce to taste
• 1 ½ cups rice (use brown rice - it's better for you!)

1. Combine beans, onion, celery, garlic, bouillon cube, basil and bay leaf in crockpot.  Stir gently to combine.  Pour water over everything
2. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2 hours.  Turn down and cook on LOW for another 2-3 hours (or until beans are very tender but not falling apart). 
3. Remove bay leaf from mixture and discard
4. Stir in stewed tomatoes (undrained), chili peppers, marinara. chili peppers and a SMALL amount of hot sauce (for "normal" hot sauces, 2-3 dashes should be fine.  For "extreme" hot sauces, no more than a drop)
5. cook for an additional 30 minutes
6. Prepare rice according to package directions
7. Serve bean mixture over hot rice

I made this yesterday and although it wasn't the prettiest meal I ever made (and I was out of brown rice so I had to use Jasmine Rice from Trader Joe's), it sure was delicious!  The marinara sauce may seem a bit strange, but I tasted it about 10 minutes after I added the tomatoes & chilis and it needed something to give it more "body".  There was also the added benefit of all that fiber, VERY little fat and the ability to make it without heating up my kitchen (thanks to the crockpot!)

Enjoy!

(and look!  I used my Photoshop Elements for the first time!  Aren't you proud of me?  Once I figure out how to change the font, I'll be ready for World Domination!)