Caribbean Red Beans and Brown Rice

A couple of weeks ago I really wanted to make beans and rice. I don't know why exactly, it just sounded like a good option for a weeknight dinner.
I wanted to try Red Beans and Rice, so I searched for recipes online and in my cookbooks.
I kept looking and looking, but most of the recipes I saw had some sort of meat in them, either just for seasoning or to go along with the dish.
I wanted to try a recipe that was mainly just the beans and rice without any meat.

Since I have been using my Mayo Clinic Cookbook a lot lately, I decided to look there for a recipe and found one, with a Caribbean twist.
It also used brown rice, which made me really happy.

There is a unique combination of spices and herbs in this version- allspice and cloves- which add part of the caribbean flavors, as well as the cilantro.

I left out the hot sauce, mostly because I wanted my kids to be able to eat this without saying it was too spicy, but left in the cayenne pepper.

I also just used one kind of brown rice, instead of a combination.
You could probably substitute canned beans instead of cooking your own dried ones, just make sure to drain and rinse them and I would say use 2 cans.
Soaking dried beans doesn't really take that much effort, you just have to remember to do it the night before you are planning to make the dish.

We really liked this version of red beans and rice. It was full of flavor and very filling. A great weeknight meal.


Recipe for Caribbean Red Beans and Brown Rice