Cheap Red Beans and Rice

First, rinse and boil the beans in a large pot with the water. After the beans have boiled for about three minutes, cover, remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature. Let them sit at least an hour until you begin using them.

When you're ready to begin, melt the butter or heat the oil and saute your onions, peppers, celery, and garlic in a Dutch oven until soft. Then, add your oregano, parsley, bay leaves, and bacon crumbles.

Add the water and set on high. While you're waiting for this to boil, drain your beans and add them to the mixture in the Dutch oven. Once everything is boiling, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer the beans for 45 minutes.

Then, add the rest of the ingredients, and cook for another 2-3 hours, stirring and tasting the beans and seasoning to taste occasionally. Basically, you're cooking the heck out of the beans until they're a bit mushy. If they're too crunchy, cook longer. If they're too watery, you can scoop some of the water out.

The final step is to take about 1/3 of the beans and put them in a food processor. Add onion powder and Cajun seasoning, and then the reserved bacon lard (or olive oil). Process this until creamy, and stir it back into the beans.

Garnish with green onions, and serve over a cup of cooked rice!