Smoked Kielbasa With Rice

December dark. Made beef vegetable soup Monday — chuck roast, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, tomatoes, green beans, corn, barley. Cooked three hours. Served with cornbread. Not Monday beans — sometimes Monday needs variety, sometimes I make beef vegetable soup to prove I can change.

Saw the doctor Friday. Connie drove, unnecessary and nonnegotiable. He listened to my lungs and said hmmm — the sound doctors make when they hear something they want to investigate. Hmmm is never good. He ordered a chest X-ray and pulmonary function test. I said what are you looking for. He said let's see the results first. I said is it the coal. He looked at me. He said let's see the results first, Craig. The way he said my name — not Mr. Hensley, Craig — told me he was looking for the coal. He's looking for what the coal left behind.

The soup was already gone by Wednesday — Connie and I finished it off before the doctor’s appointment, which felt like the right thing to do, eating something I made with my own hands before letting someone else tell me what my body had or hadn’t held onto. When I want that same kind of solid, no-nonsense warmth without a three-hour simmer, I turn to smoked kielbasa with rice. It’s the other dish in my winter rotation: fast enough for a weeknight, heavy enough to mean something, and it doesn’t ask anything of you while you wait for results you’re not sure you want.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb smoked kielbasa, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

Brown the kielbasa. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add kielbasa slices in a single layer and cook 2—3 minutes per side until browned. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Soften the vegetables. In the same pan, reduce heat to medium. Add onion and bell pepper and cook for 4—5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Build the base. Stir in smoked paprika, black pepper, red pepper flakes (if using), and salt. Add the diced tomatoes with their juices and stir to combine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add rice and liquid. Stir in the uncooked rice, chicken broth, and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Simmer covered. Return the browned kielbasa to the pan. Reduce heat to low, cover tightly, and cook for 18—20 minutes until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Check at 18 minutes — if liquid remains, cover and cook 2—3 minutes more.
Rest and serve. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, adjust seasoning, and garnish with fresh parsley before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Smoked Kielbasa With Rice — When the Soup Is Made and the Waiting Begins