Recipe: Red Beans and Rice Soup

Hey guys, back again.

Here's a really simple recipe that requires mostly off-the-shelf ingredients.

Red Beans and Rice Soup

Ingredients:

1 small onion, chopped
1 box Zataran's Red Beans and Rice (low sodium, if you can get it)
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
Creole seasoning
1 package smoked or hot sausage (the kind in one long, curvy link) chopped into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon oil (olive, vegetable, whatever you have laying around)
4 cups water

Directions:

1. Drop the oil into a medium sized pot, then add the onions and cook over medium heat until they soften
2. Add sausage, continuing to cook on medium for about 5 min
3. Sprinkle on Creole seasoning. I like to add enough for a light layer over the sausage, but you can add as much as you like. Just keep in mind that most creole seasoning is mostly salt.
4. Add tomatoes, water, and Zataran's.
5. Bring the mix to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, so that its just bubbling
6. Put on the lid, and let the soup cook for approx. 30 minutes. Make sure to stir every now and then.
7. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for at least 5 minutes. You'll burn your mouth if you try to eat it any sooner.

And that's it. Now you have a thick, hearty, tasty soup. This is especially good on a cold or rainy day. This recipe keeps really well, so if you want to save effort, make a double batch and freeze what you don't eat!

Cost: $3-$4 for creole seasoning (which you can use to make this recipe a couple dozen times) $1.50-$2.00 for the sausage (try to find it on sale) approx. $.50 for the onion, $.60 for the tomatoes, and $2.00 for the Zataran's. That's about $9.00 initially, for about 3 or 4 meals. After that it gets even cheaper, about $5, since you'll already have the seasoning.

EDIT TO ADD: The sausage I mentioned above looks like this: