In the 19th century, Monday typically was laundry day. Without a washing machine, the lady of the house tended to every article of clothing by hand. That didn’t leave much time for cooking, so dinner had to be something that required little attention. Enter the red kidney bean, brought to South Louisiana by those fleeing Haiti’s slave rebellion.

![bean-1684304_1280.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRtpH6Kom5PDnsujGUo1vAayipZaPQcxthA71kM3bsGMo/bean-1684304_1280.jpg)

After soaking the night before, the beans were set on the stove with the “trinity,” the quintessential Cajun cooking base of onions, bell peppers, and celery. It also was traditional to throw in the Sunday dinner’s ham bone for flavor. That’s now often replaced with sausage to complete a comfort food familiar to all South Louisiana dinner tables. [Source ](https://www.cajuncoast.com/blog/why-monday-red-beans-rice-day)