rice, black beans & plantains...

••••for the beans
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 tbl recaito or sofrito
1 tsp cumin
2 cans of black beans, one drained one with the water
one packet of sazon
salt for seasoning
••••for fried plantains
one plantain cut into slices
oil for frying

this happens to be one of our favorite meals. it’s simple and easy to make. 2 recipes for you today!

is this incredibly healthy? eh. does it taste good, hell yes. plantains are great. especially when you tell your kid’s their fried bananas and sprinkle some sugar on it for them. j lived on beans when he was a baby. he wouldn’t touch meat, nothing much has changed, and the kid needed protein. we used to frequent this little place where you could eat and the kid’s could play. great for rainy days. the only awful thing was you were guaranteed to get sick with in 2 days. aren’t all kid places like that though? they served mostly organic foods and one of the menu options was rice and beans. jack loved them so i had to go home and figure them out. i am pretty good at figuring recipes out, and especially since i had some help from an old co-worker, i pretty much cracked the recipe.

ever hear of sofrito? sofrito is the key to black beans. it is a blend of tomato, onion, green peppers, cilantro and garlic. you can make sofrito yourself, it’s fairly easy, just blend all the ingredients. i prefer to buy mine ;-) goya makes a good one. i have seen them in every grocery. today i used something in the sofrito family called recaito, it is basically the same thing but instead of tomato based it is cilantro based. i have both bottles in my fridge and chose the recaito. i also use a product called sazon. when i was a kid it was basically a packet of msg with some added spices. now a days you can find all natural versions made by goya but with no msg.

black beans

saute onion in a stock pot for about 5 minutes in some olive oil. add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds and then add your sofrito. cook for about a minute.
add cumin, both can’s of black beans and your packet of sazon, mix and let it cook on a medium low simmer for about 20 minutes to a half an hour.
just a quick note on the black beans. i only drain one can, the other can i use all the water or juices. if you prefer not to do that and drain both cans you can. fill about half of one can with water or stock and use that instead.
you can taste it at any time and adjust your seasoning. i find it only needs a small amount of salt. it’s up to you.
if i use sofrito instead of the cilantro based recaito, i like to add fresh cilantro towards the end.
serve over white rice. i love a spoonful of sour cream and some finely chopped cilantro on top.
this easily converts into soup, just add 3 cup’s of stock, blend 1/4 of the batch and add it back to pot.

fried plantains

heat up your oil on a medium high heat.
slice your plantains, see picture to the left, and fry to they are a light brown. take them out and drain.
now, here is something i bet you never realized. you actually double fry plantains. i take out my cutting board and i smash the plantains lightly with my hand, depending on my mood i’ve been known to whip out the rolling pin i then put them back in the pan and fry for another minute.
drain on a paper towel and serve.