Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice

Thanksgiving. Second without Mama. I cooked the full spread — turkey, ham, dressing, greens, mac and cheese, yams, the bourbon sweet potato casserole (Curtis said "hm" — predicted and delivered), cranberry relish, Claudette's rice and peas, rolls (perfect; three in a row now; the rolls are mine). Mama's plate was set. The empty chair. The empty glass. Andre raised his glass: "To Mama." We said it back. The ritual is becoming tradition, which is what happens when grief is held by repetition: it becomes sacred instead of sharp.

Twelve people at the table. Curtis at the head. Miss Ernestine holding court from her wheelchair. Darnell and Denise and the kids. Andre. Marcus and Jasmine. Me. Twelve people who love each other imperfectly and show up anyway, passing dishes and telling stories and arguing about football and laughing at Andre, who did a bit about Thanksgiving at a Black grandmother's house that had Miss Ernestine saying, "I don't act like that," while everyone else laughed until they couldn't breathe.

Derek came at seven. For pie. Curtis opened the door. Derek brought flowers (for the table, not for me — strategic and correct). He shook Darnell's hand. He said "ma'am" to Miss Ernestine, who looked at him for fifteen seconds without speaking and then said, "He's polite." From Miss Ernestine, "polite" is the first step on a ladder that leads to "acceptable," which leads to "fine," which eventually leads to "I suppose he'll do." Derek is at step one. He'll climb.

Andre pulled me aside in the kitchen. He said, "The quiet one?" (Why does everyone call him that?) I said, "The quiet one." He said, "He looks at you the way Daddy looked at Mama." I stared at Andre. Andre, the comedian, the deflector, the one who turns everything into a joke — he said the most serious thing anyone has said about Derek, and he said it in Mama's kitchen, and the words hung in the air like spice. He looks at you the way Daddy looked at Mama. I carried those words home. I will carry them for a long time.

Claudette’s rice and peas has earned its place at every holiday table I set—it sits right between the dressing and the yams like it’s always been there, which, in our family, it has. This Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice is the closest I’ve found to that slow, deeply seasoned pot she’d start the morning of; the kind of dish that fills the kitchen with smell before it fills anyone’s plate. On a day when the table held twelve people, one empty chair, and Andre’s words still hanging in the air like spice, it helped to have something that cooked itself—steady and sure while everything else was feeling.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 7 hours | Total Time: 7 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 lb dried red kidney beans, rinsed and sorted
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced into rounds
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
2 tsp Creole seasoning
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
2 bay leaves
Salt and black pepper to taste
3 cups long-grain white rice, cooked, for serving
Sliced green onions and hot sauce, for garnish

Instructions

Soak the beans. Place the dried red kidney beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water by at least 2 inches. Soak overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours, then drain and rinse well.
Layer the slow cooker. Add the drained beans to the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Top with the sliced andouille sausage, diced onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic.
Add liquid and seasoning. Pour in the chicken broth and water. Sprinkle in the Creole seasoning, smoked paprika, thyme, oregano, and cayenne. Nestle the bay leaves into the mixture and stir gently to combine.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 7–8 hours, or on HIGH for 4–5 hours, until the beans are completely tender and the liquid has thickened to a rich, gravy-like consistency.
Adjust and mash. Remove the bay leaves. Using the back of a spoon or a fork, mash about 1/4 of the beans against the side of the slow cooker to help thicken the pot further. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust salt, pepper, and seasoning.
Serve over rice. Spoon the red beans and sausage over a generous bed of cooked white rice in each bowl. Top with sliced green onions and hot sauce as desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice — Claudette’s Dish on the Table Where Mama’s Seat Still Held Her