Red beans, rice, and sausage

1 lb. fresh Andouille sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 green bell pepper chopped
4 - 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 t. dried thyme
2 t. chili powder
1/4 t. cayenne
2 T. sweet rice flour

1 1/2 t. Penzey's Pork Soup Base
2 c. water
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (with celery and onions, if you can get it)
3 c. brown Minute Rice
Two 14.5 oz cans red kidney beans (preferably low sodium), drained and rinsed


Place the sausage links into a non-stick 5 quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. (Use a couple tablespoons of oil if you don't have a non-stick pan.) Add 1/2 c. of water to the pan.

Boil the water, and stir in the soup base with a small whisk or a fork.  Keep the water near the stove, and stir it occasionally to make sure that soup base is dissolved.
When the sausage links are browned on both sides, remove it to a cutting board and slice, returning the slices to the Dutch oven as you work. (By this point the water should have boiled off.) Cook until the sausage is browned, and then add the chopped vegetables.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to brown.
Stir in the garlic, thyme, chili powder, and cayenne and cook until fragrant.  Stir in the sweet rice flour until it's evenly distributed, with no dry white patches. Stir in about 1/2 c. of the broth, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.  Add the rest of the broth and the tomatoes.  When the liquid is boiling, stir in the Minute Rice and beans and reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Stir, cover, and cook an additional 5 - 10 minutes, until the rice is tender.