You know those cans of seasoned or Cuban style black beans at the grocery store? I used to buy those beans to keep on hand for a rainy day, but no more! Slow-cooking dried black beans is one of the best changes I ever made to my pantry. Simmering on the stove, they soak up the savory flavors of onions, sweet red peppers and cilantro. Delicious!
Slow-cooking black beans allows them to develop a rich and savory flavor. Use these creamy black beans for soups, tacos, burritos, or anything you can imagine to go with beans. You can even mash them and recook them to make refried black beans. They are so versatile and once you try them, you’ll never look at those canned beans in the same way again.
Seasoned Black Beans
Servings 6
Ingredients
- 2 cups small dried black beans
- 4 cups vegetable broth chicken broth works fine too
- 1 small red bell pepper chopped
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ⅛ cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp cayenne
Instructions
- Rinse black beans. Set aside to drain.
- In a medium saucepan heat olive oil and saute red peppers and onions until translucent.
- *** If you make these beans in a crock-pot, add the sauteed vegetables to the crock pot and then add the rest of the ingredients.
- Pour in vegetable broth and rinsed black beans.
- Season with cumin, salt, pepper and cayenne.
- Bring to a low boil then turn down heat to low. Allow beans to simmer for about an hour, stirring to make sure the beans don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Add water or more vegetable broth as needed to keep the beans nice and brothy.
- At 1 hour add the chopped cilantro and season to taste. Simmer for another hour or until beans are soft and creamy.
- Eat immediately or refrigerate up to 1 week. Beans can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Transfer the cooled and cooked beans, with the broth, to a freezer-safe bag or re-usable storage container. Remove as much air as possible. When freezing, consider separating beans into single serving sizes and write the date on the container.