Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Slow Cooker Black Bean and Sausage Stew

     Black beans are great. They're versatile and super filling. I usually have three or four cans on hand at any given time. I also love smoked sausages. There's nothing like gaining six pounds in water after chowing down one of those sodium bombs.  When black beans and smoked sausages collide, good things happen.

Yup. Just like this, but with way more giggling.
     This particular recipe came out of the Slow-Cooker Magic in Minutes book. It's a fairly easy recipe, but does require moving some ingredients in and out of the cooker, which I absolutely hate. It's a small complaint, since this recipe is tasty and filling. It also benefits greatly from the addition of some hot sauce. Tabasco is great here. As always, any notes or changes are in blue.

Slow Cooker Black Bean and Sausage Stew
via Slow Cooker Magic in Minutes
Ingredients

  • 3 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1-1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1-1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup sliced celery
  • 1 cup chopped red pepper (for whatever reason, I didn't have red pepper available when I made this and went with green pepper. It worked fine.)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander (did you know that coriander is the seeds of cilantro? You do now! Never let it be said this isn't an educational blog)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
  • 6 ounces cooked turkey sausage, thinly sliced (I went ahead with the smoked pork sausage for that extra 62,000mg of sodium. Plus, I didn't slice it thinly. MADNESS)
Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker, except sausage. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.
  2. Transfer about 1-1/2 cups bean mixture from slow cooker to blender or food processor, puree mixture (I have said it before and I'll say it again. I hate it when a slow cooker recipe has me taking stuff in and out of the cooker. I just want to throw it in and forget about it. This is time that could be spent drinking or smoking cigars)
  3. Return blended mixture to slow cook. Stir in sausage. Cover and cook on LOW an additional 10-15 minutes.
Good times!

5 comments:

  1. Hi there! I'm stopping in from Let's Get Real today. So.........do you think you needed to go through the puree process? Did it add to the recipe? Probably made it thicker I would think. I'm with you. I like to fix it and forget it.

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    1. I think the step is there strictly to thicken the broth. I don't think it necessarily added anything other than a little texture.

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  2. I posted a comment here yesterday, but I'm guessing it got sent to spam (having lots of trouble with that lately). Trying it again to see if it works this time.

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    1. It must have gotten spammed. I never got a notice on it. I see this one just find, though!

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  3. This is perfect for these cold nights! It looks so hearty and filling! :) Pinned - Thanks for linking up to Freedom Fridays!

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