Today is Monday, obviously, and we're having—what else?—Red Beans and Rice.
It's a tradition in Cajun country to eat red beans and rice on Monday, using the ham hock from Sunday's ham dinner. At least that's what they say. I doubt few Cajuns these days bake ham on Sunday, much less cook red beans from scratch on Monday.
And of course 'round here, we never have ham hock at all. In fact, when you think about it, isn't that a pretty gross concept? The ankle bone of a pig in your beans? You have no idea where that ankle's been, and you want to put it in your pot of beans? Good luck with that.
We like to make red beans from dried, although if we haven't soaked beans in advance, canned will do just fine. If you can find actual red beans, instead of red kidney beans, do use those. They're smaller and more authentic than the larger kidney beans.
But alas, Cajun products aren't found on the shelves of Tesco, so red kidney beans usually do for us. Here's the recipe, along with a little Cajun lore.
Oh, and for breakfast, I had the usual cereal—Dorset cereal, since I"m still trying to win a Mini. For lunch, a sandwich, made with wholemeal bread, my favorite Maille mustard and some of these sage and onion slices from Redwood. They're really yummy, even for a devoted PB&J fan like me.
What's on your menu for Meatless Monday?
