Black Beans and Saffron Rice
Black Beans and Saffron Rice
One of the very first recipes that my mom made when I became a vegetarian – nearly twenty years ago! – was this tasty rendition of black beans. It was always served with Mahatma (i.e. packaged) saffron rice, and that’s what I continue to do out of both convenience and habit. One day, I would like to try out some homemade saffron rice, though. Originally my mom made this with Cajun stewed tomatoes, but I haven’t seen those in the store in like fifteen years, so I substitute Mexican.
I always, always double it, since it keeps for a while in the fridge and also freezes well. Though I wouldn’t recommend doubling the amount of green bell pepper until you really, really like green bell pepper. One is fine. If you do double it, definitely make it in a large pot. The one I use is six quarts.
Ingredients:
1 large onion
1 large green bell pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
olive oil as needed – enough to cover the bottom of the pot
3 15-oz cans black beans
1 15-oz can Cajun or Mexican stewed tomatoes
1.5 cups water
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
- Chop onion and bell pepper, and mince garlic.
- In a large saucepan or stockpot, sauté onion, bell pepper, and garlic in olive oil until soft.
- While sautéing, rinse the beans and drain.
- Add beans, tomatoes, water, tomato sauce, red wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, and sugar, and heat until it starts to boil.
- Cover and reduce heat to medium low (or thereabouts), and simmer for one hour (you could probably get away with 45 min).
- Uncover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Use this time to make your saffron rice.
Tags: black beans, vegetarian cooking
