I tried to make Red Beans and Rice for my lunch today, but it wasn’t very edible. I got through about half of it but then threw it out. I won’t be able to face it again for a while, so I thought I would post it in hopes that someone else would refine it.

I started with this recipe for inspiration: Authentic Louisiana Red Beans and Rice.

My plan was to make a single-serving because, if I really didn’t like it, I didn’t want more than one. Unfortunately, it is something my husband would eat.

The problem started with the rice. I had Uncle Ben’s Instant Brown Rice, which I usually use successfully to make 4 servings using the stove top method. I wanted to make just one serving so I used the microwave method.  I divided the 4 serving amounts by 4 and ended up with 2 TBSP of the dry rice and 1/4 cup of low sodium chicken broth.  I scaled back the cooking times as I thought appropriate: 5 minutes on high, then 5 minutes on medium, then let it stand for 5 minutes. My microwave is only about 700 watts so not too high. But, this didn’t work. It looked ok after the first 5 minutes but after the second 5 minutes and standing time, it was all brown (browner than brown rice should be) and hard. I tried again and just cooked it 5 minutes on high and then let it stand 5 minutes. Better, but not very fluffy.  The box does say that the stove-top method is preferred and now I see why. Next time, I will cook 4 servings on the stove and just use what I need. Or, use left-over rice because I usually do have a bit when I make 4 servings.

I used 1/4 cup each of onion, red pepper, and celery and 1 clove garlic. I sautéed the veggies in 1/2 tsp olive oil.  That all worked well and smelled great.

I went to add 1/4 cup of pinto beans, but found out I didn’t have any. I used black beans and they seemed like a good substitution.

The biggest problem, though, was the scaling down of the spices.  I thought I did the math right, but somehow the result was HOT.  I like Hot, but this was too HOT. One of the reasons was that I didn’t have the Cajun Seasoning that was called for. So, I looked up a substitute on Allrecipes.

These were my seasonings

• 1/8 tsp thyme
• 1/16 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/16 tsp sage
• ½ tsp dried parsley
• 1/8 tsp Cajun seasoning (I used the spices listed below for a substitute)
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp oregano
  • 1/8 tsp paprika
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper – I only used 1/8 tsp of this mixture so not much
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper

Anyway, that was too much cayenne for me. I found that trying to scale down spices to one serving was a challenge.

If you compare my recipe to the inspiration recipe, you might wonder what happened to the sausage.  For the lunch I was making, I decided to omit it. I still think this would be fine without it. If I were making it for dinner, I might add some chicken sausage.

Since this was so HOT, I couldn’t taste much else. But, I did like the texture of the veggies and beans – not the rice.  I wasn’t sure if I liked the other spices in this recipe. I like them all in other recipes, but here not so much. I am thinking the next time I try this, I might use chili powder and cumin.  With some avocado slices and cilantro, I think that is more my style.