I just got a new cookbook (can you ever have too many?) “Healthy Everyday Food” from Cooking Light and I had highlighted this recipe to try, “Cuban Beans and Rice”. It stuck out for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve wanted to try cooking dry beans. I’ll admit, I usually buy the canned style. Second, I love cooking in my slow cooker. And third, I really haven’t met a recipe with cumin in it that I haven’t liked!
I followed the recipe pretty closely-I’ll point out what I did differently below. I hope you’ll give this a try. It’s delicious, low cal, good protein, good fiber content and pretty easy. I like the texture of these beans soooooo much more than canned beans.
Cuban Beans and Rice
Adapted from Healthy Everyday Food from Cooking Light, 2009, Oxmoor House
Ingredients:
1 pound dried black beans
2 cups water
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups chopped onion
1 ½ cups chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 TBSP olive oil
3 tsp salt
2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
2 TBSP sherry or red wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained (I missed the part about draining but I don’t think it mattered)
5 cups hot cooked rice (I made enough brown rice for two meals)
Hot sauce (optional) (I didn’t use)
I also used:
fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)
2 TBSP non-fat plain greek yogurt
2 TBSP chopped cilantro
Method:
Sort and wash beans; place in a large bowl. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; cover and let stand 8 hours (I did this at bedtime and soaked them overnight-about 12 hours). Drain beans.
Combine beans, 2 cups water, and next 10 ingredients (through oregano) in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours or until beans are tender.
Stir in vinegar and tomatoes. (I cooked on high 1 hour, low 8 hours, added the vinegar and tomatoes and cooked another hour on low).
Serve over (brown) rice. Sprinkle with hot sauce if desired. (I added a dollop of non-fat plain greek yogurt, fresh lime juice, and sprinkles of cilantro. Didn’t need any more heat for our palate. There was a fair bit of liquid remaining).
Yield: 10 servings of 1 cup beans and ½ cup rice. Calories 314, fat 3.3 grams, protein 12.1 grams, carbs 58.3 grams
When the bean mixture had cooled I put ½ of it in a freezer bag and froze it with a small amount of the “gravy”.