One order of Cajun red beans, hold the beans

October 21, 2020 5:50 PM

I have suddenly and inexplicably developed an intolerance to beans and related legumes. Kidney beans are the worst. Even a small amount makes me horribly bloated. What can I make that's similar to Cajun red beans, but without the beans?

I have an Instant pot, and one of my favorite recipes is to use dried kidney beans to make Cajun red beans and rice. Unfortunately, I can't do this anymore, and I can't substitute any other leguminous ingredient, either. What can I make that would scratch the "red beans" itch? Another restriction: The recipe has to be vegan, or at least easily veganized.

posted by alex1965 to Food & Drink (16 answers total)

Are you also intolerant of soy beans? Black soy beans can be treated much like "normal" beans (you can make taco-style black beans with them).
posted by ClaireBear at 5:59 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Maybe small cubes of sweet potato and beet with rice? Or squash? Cooked to as close to the firmness of red beans as possible?

And just in case this is helpful, have you tried adding a piece of kombu? I wasn’t eating any beans because of bloating but now I can tolerate them just fine if they’re cooked with kombu (you can’t taste it). YMMV!
posted by stellaluna at 6:19 PM on October 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

If all beans are off the table, how about chopped mock duck, or chopped mushrooms and carrots, or jackfruit, cooked in the appropriate spices for red beans?
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 6:21 PM on October 21, 2020

Yeah, sweet potato for the texture and sweetness.
posted by aniola at 6:55 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Can you do lentils? Like red lentils. They dissolve into mush.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 7:01 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

I would do seitan/mock duck in a roughly bean-scale dice; that'd taste good with that spice mix and would still have a nice feeling with rice. Maybe a little extra tomato sauce, or mushrooms, to make up for the lack of bean liquid.

My off-the-wall suggestion would be raw cashews, but that'd be a much pricier dish in quantity.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:27 PM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

It's not the same, but could you try a vegan dirty rice for a similar "down home savory comfort" feel (and potentially spice profile)? I've seen several recipes, but here's one from a cookbook I have.
posted by spelunkingplato at 7:31 PM on October 21, 2020 [4 favorites]

Korean rice cakes, chopped up, might have a beany texture (if a bit chewier). They have a very neutral flavor and would soak up the spices nicely.
posted by moonmilk at 7:35 PM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

Chopped mushrooms might get you close too; our local asian market usually has larger white trumpet mushrooms, which have barrel thick, tender stems, so you can get your chop close to 'bean shape' and they'd soak up flavor not exactly but similarly.

I was mentally heading down the direction of tchemgrrl, but I was actually thinking cooked wallnuts would be closer in flavor and texture to red beans; pecans might even work. They would clearly need much, much less cooking though.
posted by furnace.heart at 7:38 PM on October 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

whole grains like farro, kamut, wheat berries, or barley might do you.

If you toast them first, they're more flavorful and less insipid when subsequently cooked (if you're already cooking cajun style, just add the grains into the pot you've already sauteed your trinity in and stir around in the hot oil for a few minutes before adding water, otherwise put in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 for about 20 min).
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:22 PM on October 21, 2020 [3 favorites]

Whole blanched almonds stewed for a couple hours in savory broth would be an excellent sub. Use an instant pot or pressure cooker to speed things up.
posted by ananci at 10:19 PM on October 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Hominy! If you can find it whole, often canned, you can treat it similarly to beans and it has that same kind of, beany chew. You might have had it in pozole. I don’t have much experience cooking with it but I bet it will work nicely with all the Cajun flavors. I believe it’s kind of fussy to cook from its dried state at home but I couldn’t speak from personal experience.
posted by Mizu at 11:00 PM on October 21, 2020 [4 favorites]

Have you tried Beano? I had a (thankfully temporary) issue with beans a few years ago and short-term use of the UK-equivalent digestive enzyme helped to the point that I can now eat beans without issue and without the digestive enzyme.

I also had the same experience with broccoli briefly a few years ago. Anecdotal evidence from friends and family with various intolerances seems to suggest that avoiding the food only makes symptoms worse in the longer term when you do eat the food again, so if I were you and wanted to carry on eating beans I'd be inclined to keep eating and see if digestive enzymes help in the short term.
posted by terretu at 1:30 AM on October 22, 2020

I have a tendency to add a bunch of veggies to my red beans and rice anyway. My suggestion would be onion, bell pepper, tomato, and okra. Okra has a lot of mouth feel. I doubt you'll even notice that the beans are missing.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:36 AM on October 22, 2020

gumbo? maybe not veganizable.

Pozole?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 5:53 AM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

Replacing the beans with okra like hydropsyche says is a good idea, but some people hate the consistency of okra. If you don't like okra, try eggplant. Neither will be the same as beans, but they will both make delicious, filling food.
posted by mumimor at 7:39 AM on October 22, 2020