Slow Cooker Vegan Red Beans and Rice for 2
I don’t know about you, but this time of the year I need something to celebrate. These red beans are good for you, inexpensive, and easy to make so that might be a cause for a celebration all on its own. However, I think I’ll be making these for my sweetie on the 14th.
I find any holiday that you’re supposed to eat chocolate a pretty good one, but going out on Valentine’s Day for dinner is not my favorite thing to do. The usual haunts have set menus (usually with no vegan options) and it often comes with inflated holiday prices too. They have tons of people to herd in and out so the meal usually goes at a fairly fast pace. All in all, it’s not my idea of an ideal date night.
Eating in, however, is one of my favorite things to do. With Fat Tuesday later in the month why not combine the two for a date night that makes your tummy (and wallet) happy?
Since Valentine’s is on a Tuesday you probably can’t be in the kitchen all day cooking your heart out. Slow Cooker Vegan Red Beans and Rice for 2 are sinfully easy to make. You start the dried beans the night before, add the seasonings in the morning, and come home to a perfect pot of creamy beans. If you have a rice cooker with a timer you can set it in the morning and your whole meal will be ready! These beans have a velvety texture, are full of flavor, and can be as hot (or mild) as you want them to be.
If you can’t find small red beans you can use pre-cooked kidney beans instead and make the dish in the morning. Kidney bean need to be boiled since they contain a toxin called phytohaemagglutinin which is destroyed when you boil the beans for 10 minutes. So either use rinsed canned kidney beans or boil them for 10 minutes before you finish cooking them in the slow cooker.
Serve this the traditional way with a vegan twist by serving some grilled tofu or vegan sausages with it. But if you don’t eat soy or gluten, the beans by themselves are a great meal too. Plus since this dish is so healthy you can really splurge on a fancy dessert.
You can get the recipe for Slow Cooker Vegan Red Beans and Rice for 2 at Key Ingredient here.
