Quote Originally Posted by brian 333 View Post
Red Beans and Rice almost universally has meat in it. Smoked sausage, ham, smoked meats of various kinds, etc. It can be made meatless, but so far as I know, nobody in New Orleans does that.
That's not my experience. There's a catfish place I go to with some frequency that has red beans with the only other edition being spices. It is usually a side for the catfish, but I really like it and they also serve rice with a few of their dishes. I've had them make me the red beans on rice, and enjoyed it with a nice cold beer.
Great food for Lent when I am not interested in fried catfish.