Why Red Beans on Monday?
In 18th-century New Orleans, Monday was wash day. While laundresses scrubbed clothes over open fires, a blackened pot of red beans simmered on the adjacent coals. Low and slow, all day, barely needing a stir. By evening the smell of beans and pork pulled families to the table.
That weekly rhythm, passed between West African, Caribbean, and Creole kitchens, stuck. Two hundred years later, people in New Orleans still won't cook anything else on a Monday.
Our first blend
We're starting with Cajun. Paprika, garlic, cayenne, and the herbs you'd expect if you've spent any time in a Creole kitchen. We left the salt out of this one so you can season to your own taste.
Cajun Seasoning
A warm, cayenne-forward Cajun blend with enough going on that you won't need to open five other jars. No salt added.
This is our first blend. We want to make more, but we'd rather know what people are actually cooking before we decide what's next.
30-minute Monday
You don't need all day. Sear some smoked sausage, dump in a couple cans of beans, add water and this blend, and let it simmer until it thickens up. Thirty minutes, and it tastes like it's been on the stove since morning.
Works on chicken thighs, shrimp, roasted potatoes, eggs. Anything you'd start with a holy trinity.
From the garden
We write about what we cook and how we think about food. These pages grow over time.
- Red beans on Monday — the wash-day tradition and why we started here
- Taqueria-style salsa — the emulsion trick, three salsas, and a 6-layer dip
- Restocking the pantry — what we're pressure canning and what's not worth it
- Italian seasoning from seed — growing herbs in AeroGardens, then blending them