My grandmother always put oysters in hers, but I don’t like them in my gumbo.

Some of my other family members use them and various other seafood, such as lobster, crayfish, and scallops.

This recipe is for a big pot, but you can adjust as needed.

Let your taste buds lead you! enjoy!

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My grandmother found so many ways to provide nutritious foods for us to eat.  No matter the fact that she didn’t have a lot, she still managed to cook good food.

This beef stew recipe is one of those good food dishes. Now, I know that today you can go to the store to buy a canned stew, but you don’t have to do that! You can make a more nutritious, delicious stew yourself from scratch! It is so easy and only takes about an hour to be ready!

Making beef stew from scratch

To make this stew, you will need the beef and any vegetables that your family likes. My grandmothers beef stew recipe takes a slight turn from what you might find on the internet because she never used wines or vinegar in her broth.

This fiery beef stew is tomato-based, so it is somewhat like a soup but it is thick like a stew, so my Grandmother called it a stew, and that’s what I call it, too!

The other reason she labeled it as a stew was that she browned the meat, which helped to thicken the broth which made it more of a stew. Then she would let the meat simmer on low for about an hour, it made the beef meltingly tender.

I love to put lots of thyme, rosemary and parsley in my beef stew. I also like to use the canned fiery tomatoes in my stew. All of these delicious ingredients adds so much flavor to the thick broth.

So, if you want to give your family a delicious hearty stew, that will fill them with good nutrients and that will satisfy their hunger, make this Fiery beef stew!

Of course, if you don’t like the fiery idea just substitute with regular canned tomatoes you will still get that awesomeness in this meal!

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Instead, I saute my vegetables with olive oil cooking spray or olive oil.

At least I know that this oil is a healthy one and is good for the heart. As you can see I love lots of veggies and I am always trying to find easy ways to get them into my kid’s system. These sweet red onions are so much better if you saute them first, combined with the garlic, and peppers.

Get the freshest parsley, tomatoes, orange, red and green peppers you can find. You know, don’t pick up wilted parsley, it just doesn’t flavor as well.  Since I have never used a lot of butter in this recipe my family never missed it, yet they do miss when I don’t cook this dish for a while. This is the kind of meal that people will actually request over and over again.

So here is my grandmother’s recipe without all of the butter.

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dishes.

Thinking back on the things my grandmother use to say to me, it brings back memories of warmness, Joy, and sometimes sadness. Simply, because of the reasons, she said certain things to my siblings and me.

Like “You will understand when you have children” or “Be grateful for what you got on your

plate” she said this whenever we complained about eating the same thing more than once, during the week.

One of those dishes was kidney beans and rice!

These delicious little pellets of energizing protein, packs a lot of flavor and goodness rolled into them. They are perfectly fine when eaten all alone, but extra scrumptious when served over white or brown rice! Yum!

I can’t believe that now as an adult I love to cook them, eat them, and serve them to my kids. I love to reminisce about those good days when I was a young girl,  racing my brother home, to get to the dinner table first.

Kidney Beans

Now when shopping, don’t get these kidney beans mixed up with red beans. I say this because my husband brought back the wrong beans one time. Just because they looked similar, but they are different.

Kidney beans are bigger than red beans and are not as strong tasting. Kidney beans do not take as long as red beans to cook. But if your local grocer does not have them, you can substitute this recipe with red beans.

This recipe kindles memories like the one I talked about up top, because, it was one of those dinners that I remember the most as a young child.

Particularly, because my grandmother seemed to always have this dish ready when my brother and I  got home from school.

We would race back home to eat, after a long day at school. The long public bus ride to and from school was extra tasking on our starving bodies.

It was as if we were starving when we stepped foot off that bus. Even though we had eaten lunch at school, it seems that we were always hungry when we got home.

My grandmother never failed use, she knew that we would be hungry, so she had our beans ready. As a mom, I now know that it took her a long time to prepare this dish.

Her Creole heritage definitely influenced her cooking and made it so delicious, and she cooked for us with a healthy dose of love in each meal.

Back then I thought that we were unfortunate and poor because we had to eat beans, which seemed like every day. Now I know it was really one of the best and one of the healthiest meals we could have eaten.

What to cook with kidney beans

This delicious dish pairs well with many things and, I eat them any time of the day. Get you some smoked turkey or smoked ham or even smoked sausage is good. The tender ham flavored meat makes it even more mouth-watering. Drizzle the thickened savory sauce over fluffy white rice, spiced with some screaming Texas Pete hot sauce, oh baby you’re talking good!

Although it seemed as if my grandmother prepared this dish for us every day, at the time, I now understand that she had actually cooked the pot of kidney beans & rice on that Monday.

It seems as if it was a kind of unspoken tradition to put a big pot of beans on the stove that would simmer all day long. Just like the tradition of frying fish on Fridays was a family ritual with my kinfolks.

My family was not catholic, but they did come from Louisiana and many of these traditions were lived out in their homes, even after migrating to San Francisco.

Sometimes we got to eat these beans with some good fried chicken, pickled peppers and freshly diced tomatoes. Which are all duplicated at my table today, when I cook  red beans & rice for my family

So, this is a meal that I have placed in front of my family quite often. Today, as a mother, that has the choice to prepare any dish for my family that I want, I often prepare red beans & rice. Yes, I could skip beans, a little more often then I choose too.  But, the fact is, my family, enjoy eating this dish, especially with a nice thick piece of cornbread, chicken or with a nice crisp green tossed salad!  Plus it is so healthy and nutritious! Yum, delicious!

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so good for you!

Wondering what to serve with them?

Herb oven grilled chicken will complement these black beans and rice well. Just get some jerk chicken seasoning, sprinkle your clean chicken with olive oil and the seasoning. Grill uncovered in the oven until done and crisp.

Don’t forget a nice cilantro based salad! Yum. Black beans and rice is a dish that we could eat every day, since we cook them with no meat, a very little salt and many fresh herbs and tomatoes. You will love the different flavors mixing in your mouth.

I grew up on beans and rice!

Black beans and rice are true comfort food and because they are so filling you don’t need a lot. You are getting a lot of fiber from these black beans and rice, which is excellent for the waistline! Because we were not rich, my grandmother served us some kind of bean almost every day, yet we were lean, healthy and strong.

Although these amazing vegetarian black beans were not a staple on my grandmother’s table, I discovered them while trying to provide nutritional food for the army of men that I cook for every day. Some nights I would include a pan of sweet cornbread or freshly cooked pita bread, my family loves it.  Try cooking these and see that you won’t add them to your regular menu!

Please let me know if you make these delicious beans, and I would love it if you leave me a star rating!

Thank you!

Adrienne

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