For week #39 of my 2018 challenge to try one new whole-food plant-based (WFPB) recipe each week, I made this gumbo dish, which turned out delicious. If you like smoky/spicy food, you’re going to love this!

It all started with a bag of “15 Bean Soup” (Hurst’s HamBeens brand). A former coworker of mine used to make this soup a lot. He would often heat up a bowl for lunch. It always smelled SO good.

“15 Bean Soup” is basically a bag of dry beans (15 different kinds), with a small flavor packet in it. It can be found with the dried beans in the grocery store. Often people add ham to it, but I left the ham out to keep it plant-based.

So I started by cooking up this soup, then I added additional vegetables, brown rice, and seasonings to make this Cajun-inspired dish. It’s a hearty, comforting meal that’s perfect for Fall.

What I like about this recipe (besides the fact that it's healthy):

• Hearty

• Delicious smoky flavor

• It has a little heat to it, which I like.

What I ended up using/doing:

• 1 20-oz package of 15-Bean Soup (I used Hurst’s Hambeens brand and included the seasoning packet.)

• 4 quarts (16 cups) water

• 2 yellow onions, diced

• 4 celery stalks, diced

• 2 large carrots, diced

• 1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes

• 1 10-oz can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies

• 4 bell peppers, chopped (I used a green, red, orange, and yellow green pepper.)

• 1 12-oz package of frozen cut okra

• Kosher salt to taste (start with 1 tsp and increase depending on taste preference)

• 1 tsp Luzianne Cajun seasoning

• 1 16-oz bag brown rice, cooked according to package directions (or in a rice cooker)

Steps:

1. Into a large pot, combine the (rinsed) dry beans, 10 cups of the water, one of the diced onions, and salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the beans are soft. This will take about 1 1/2 hours stovetop. You can also do this step in a pressure cooker to save time.

2. While the beans are cooking, prepare the brown rice.

3. Once the beans have softened, add the diced celery, carrots, onion, and the rest of the water (6 cups) to the pot with beans.

4. Add the seasoning packet from the 15-Bean Soup, 1 tsp Luzianne Cajun seasoning, diced tomatoes, Rotel, and chopped bell peppers. Cook until the peppers are bright in color and soft.

5. Finally, add the frozen okra and cook until bright green and softened, then turn off the heat.

6. In individual bowls, add cooked rice. Cover with the gumbo soup mixture. (If you like more heat, I recommend adding Frank’s Hot Sauce and/or cayenne pepper to individual bowls.)

7. Enjoy!

This post was originally published on October 1, 2018.