Cuban Black Beans and Brown Rice

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I love love black beans but I must admit I usually eat the ones in a can or more recently the frozen variety. I try to buy the lower sodium versions when possible but honestly there is nothing lower in sodium than the staple dried bean. I have always wanted to try making them from the dried state. Not to mention the cost is so inexpensive from a bag. 1.50-1.80$ for a pound! This recipe was adapted from penzey’s catalog winter 2015. I made them vegan and cut some extra unnecessary calories along the way. The best part to this recipe is you don’t have to soak the beans over night!!

This recipe yields 7 cups (7 servings)

Ingredients
1 bag 16 oz black beans (rinsed and run though strainer to remove any no bean particles)
4 cups of water
3 cloves garlic (diced) (we used home grown which are pretty potent so if you are using store bought you might want to increase)
1 TB ground cumin
Salt to taste (I only used a dash)
Canola Cooking Oil spray ( just enough to coat the sauté pan)
1 1/2 cups diced green pepper
1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion
1 TB red wine vinegar
2 whole bay leaves
4 cups of vegetable stock ( I used penzeys)
1 TB honey (or Splenda or one packet of truvia or stevia)
Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp of each pasta sprinkle, sweet basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, tarragon
Brown rice cook according to package (optional)

Directions:
Place dried beans in a 4 quart sauce pan and cover.

Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and keep beans covered and allow to rest 1 hour.

 

 

 

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In the meantime prepare and chop onions, green pepper, cumin, and garlic. Sauté in cooking sprayed 10 inch sauté pan. Cook for 5-10 minutes.

Rinse and drain beans.

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Place the beans back into the same 4 quart pan and add the sautéed vegetables as well. Along with the all spices, bay leaf, salt, pepper, honey, and vinegar. Also at this point in time add the 4 cups of vegetable broth/stock to the bean mixture.

 

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Cover and allow to simmer on low for 2 hours. Serve with fluffy brown rice or quinoa.

 

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Enjoy!!!