Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

Slow cooker meals save my life in the middle of the week - between my husband's and my full-time jobs, running a jiu jitsu school part-time, being vegetarian, and having my gluten-free sister living with us, meal times can get...interesting, to say the least. So when I find something that's easy, cooks while I'm at wok all day, flavorful, vegetarian, AND gluten free? I'm in seventh heaven!

As always, I ended up forgetting that I didn't have certain spices at home when I went grocery shopping this week, so I had to...*drumroll*...IMPROVISE! That's always a scary thing for this by-the-recipe chef, but I must say, I was quite pleased with the results. Reprinted below is the recipe as I found it on (where else?) Pinterest, but I've added my notes on improvisations to the side. Dish it up & let me know what you think!

Vegetarian & Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice

Ingredients:

*2 15 oz. cans red kidney beans, drained

*1 cup finely chopped onion

*1 cup chopped green pepper

*1 cup chopped celery

*2 tsp. dried thyme

*3 cloves garlic, minced (I ended up using garlic powder because I didn't feel like chopping garlic at 6:30 a.m. - a few tsp. did the trick)

*2 1/3 cups vegetable broth 

*1 bay leaf (I omitted this - hate the things)

*1 tsp. smoked paprika

*1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (These last two were what I realized I was out of this morning - I improvised with some New Orleans Cajun spice seasoning I had in the cupboard. Basic same flavor!)

*1 cup rice 

Directions:

1) Place all ingredients except rice in the slow cooker and cook on LO for 4-5 hours.

2) Stir in rice and a pinch of salt and pepper, and increase temperature to HI for 1-2 hours or until rice is tender. 

Because the celery and pepper lose their colors while cooking, it looks pretty bland when you serve it - try spicing it up with a few sprigs of parsley and a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!