Black Beans and Rice

4.50 (4)
⏱ 50 mins 🍽 4 serving(s) 🏷 One Dish Meal

This is my preferred take on the classic dish. The addition of dark rum and orange juice concentrate perfectly balances the flavours. I like to use brown rice, though white rice works too. It's a complete meal served with a vibrant array of optional toppings like fresh tomato, chilli, cilantro and sour cream, allowing everyone to customise their plate. The recipe serves four and takes about 50 minutes to prepare.

Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients

  • cooking spray
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 sweet green peppers or 2 sweet red peppers, seeded & diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 cups cooked black beans, drained
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons dark rum or 2 tablespoons dry sherry
  • 3 cups cooked rice
  • chopped onion
  • chopped celery
  • chopped tomato
  • chopped hot green chili peppers or chopped jalapeno pepper
  • lemon wedge
  • orange wedge
  • banana, sliced
  • chopped fresh cilantro
  • sour cream or yogurt

Method

  1. Coat a large, heavy saucepan with cooking spray and place it over the heat.
  2. Cook the chopped onion, stirring now and then, for about 3 minutes.
  3. Put in the diced pepper and minced garlic, cooking for a further 3 minutes.
  4. Stir in the black beans, lemon juice, orange juice concentrate, chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Let it simmer for 8 minutes, adding a little water if the mixture becomes too dry.
  5. Take 1 cup of the bean mixture and combine it with the dark rum. Mash this into a paste using a fork, blender or food processor.
  6. Return the paste to the saucepan. Cover it and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
  7. Spoon the finished bean mixture over portions of cooked rice.
  8. Present the chopped onion, celery, tomato, chilli peppers, lemon wedge, orange wedge, sliced banana, cilantro and sour cream in separate small dishes as optional accompaniments.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sodium9300 mg

Recipe details

CategoryOne Dish Meal
Authorecho echo