Red Beans and Rice

This is from Taste of Home. It's SO good! I adapted the recipe to our family's tastes, and made it doubled, so there was leftovers for lunch. I paired it with Alber's cornbread. I wrote out the substitutions I had to make due to ingredient shortages. :) You could add sausage, cooked chicken or ground beef to this if you wanted. It's very versatile.

Red Beans and Rice

• 1/2 pound dried kidney beans, rinsed
• 1/2 pound dried pinto beans, rinsed
• 4 cups water
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 quart home-canned tomatoes with liquid
  
• 1 jar (4 ounces) canned peppers, drained
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 1 large sweet red pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped (I used 1 Tbsp dried minced onion)
  
• 1 cup chopped celery (I didn't have any, so I used 1 tsp celery salt)
  
• 1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley (I used 1 Tbsp dried)
  
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt (I used less since I used celery salt)
  
• 1 tablespoon vinegar (I used the vinegar I pickled the peppers in)
  
• Hot cooked rice (I used 2 cups dry rice...should have used 3)
  

Directions

• Place beans in a Dutch oven with water. Bring to a boil; simmer 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans. Return to Dutch oven with broth, garlic and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/4 hours. Stir in all remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 1 hour or until beans and vegetables are tender and gravy is thick. Remove bay leaves. Serve over rice. This dish keeps well. Yield: 12 servings.