Black Eyed Peas and Rice with Andouille Sausage

I guess you could consider this a fancy version of Hoppin’ John. After living in Louisiana for six years I have a huge place in my heart for southern cooking. I stumbled upon this recipe as I was cleaning out a section of “the binder” and I had to try it. I’m happy I did, it’s very yummy. I was able to whip this up rather quickly while making silly faces at little one.

I did not use boil-in-bag-rice. I think rice is overpriced when purchased this way. I buy rice in bulk and then use my rice cooker. That was the plan this time but husband ordered Chinese for dinner Saturday night so we had some white rice sitting in our fridge waiting to be used! Since I used different rice I did have to cook everything longer than four minutes. I will use more Cajun seasoning in the future – half a teaspoon just seems so little. I don’t think the hot sauce was necessary. The andouille that I buy has a nice bite to it already. In all honesty I couldn’t even taste the hot sauce.  As for my chunky tomato issue, I used petite diced tomatoes and it was perfect.

The recipe recommends corn bread as an accompaniment and I couldn’t agree more! I just wish I would have had some cornbread to go with it. I will plan this better in the future.

1 (3 1/2-ounce) bag boil-in-bag long-grain rice

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup prechopped onion

1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

6 ounces chicken andouille sausage, sliced

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

Place rice in an 8-inch square baking dish; cover with water. Microwave at HIGH 6 minutes; drain.

Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion, minced garlic, and Cajun seasoning to pan, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in sausage, and cook for 1 minute. Add the rice, chicken broth, black-eyed peas, and tomatoes to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 4 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in hot pepper sauce. Ladle about 1 1/4 cups mixture into each of 4 bowls, and sprinkle each serving with 2 tablespoons green onions.

Cooking Light – January 2007