Black Beans & Rice

Image: Serving plate containing white rice topped with cooked black beans and other toppings.

Description: This savory and delicious vegetarian black beans and rice is sure to be a filling and satisfying meal to add to your comfort food Rolodex.

Yield: Recipe makes 3-4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup dried black beans, soaked according to package directions

• 1 cup of white rice (or preferred rice)

• 1/2 yellow onion, diced

• 4 clove garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon vegetable bouillon

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 1 ½ teaspoons celery seed

• 1 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon old bay seasoning

• ½ teaspoon cumin

• ½ teaspoon hot pepper flake

• ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• Dried parsley or dried cilantro, for topping

• Hot sauce, for topping

• Salt, to taste

• black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Rinse and strain the pre-soaked black beans. Add the beans to a small 4 cup stock pot. Add enough water to cover the beans with approximately 1 inch of water.

Add all seasonings, onions, and garlic. Simmer on medium-low with the lid tilted for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed until beans are fully cooked and have reached your desired tenderness. For me, this took about 45 minutes of cooking the hot pre-soaked black beans.

Halfway through cooking the beans, start cooking the rice. Add 2 cups of water to a small pot and put on high heat until boiling.

While the water is coming to boil, thoroughly rinse your rice until the water runs clear. Once the water boils, add in the rice, reduce the heat to low, and cover with a lid and simmer on low for 10 minutes.

Remove the rice from the heat but leave the lid on for another 2 minutes, then remove the lid slightly, keeping it tilted to allow steam to escape so the rice does not continue to cook too much longer while the beans are finishing up.

When the beans have almost reached your desired texture, add the apple cider vinegar, and using the back of a spoon, press down into the pot to smash a few of the beans as you are stirring. This will release the bean starch and thicken the remaining water in the beans.

Turn off the heat but fully put the lid on and let it sit on the burner for another 5 minutes. It will continue to cook while you prepare your serving dish.

Prepare a serving plate with the rice and top with black beans. If needed, add a bit more salt to taste. Top with hot sauce and parsley. Serve and enjoy!

Notes:

Dried beans need to be presoaked before cooking. There are 2 methods for soaking the beans:

1. Overnight Soak: Soak dried beans submerged in water for 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Drain beans

2. Quick soak: bring pot of water to boil. Add black beans to pot and cover with lid. Boil on medium for 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the pan on the stove covered for approximately oil the beans with the lid on for approximately 1-2 minutes, then turn the heat off, but let the beans sit covered on the stove for approximately 1 hour. Drain, then cook beans

I prefer the Quick Soak because it takes less overall time from start to finish. Also, I’ve found that when quick soaking, the beans only seem to take about 30-45 minutes of actual cooking time to get to the tenderness that I like with black beans. If you’ve never tried cooking with dried beans, experiment to see which soak method you prefer.