Beans

My family was not huge into beans, other than refried beans and chili some, but I really loved black beans when I was introduced to them!  We  made a good friend who had grown up in Cuba and she made black beans and rice that I really liked! They are really flavorful and even my boys like them!

Marie’s Black Beans

4 c. dry black beans

3 qts water

1 green pepper

1 onion

1 T. salt

Put into 6 qt pressure cooker and bring up to pressure. Cook one hour with weight rocking slwly. Cool cooker until pressure goes down. Remove onion and green pepper (you put them in the cooker whole)

Add  1 t. cumin. In a frying pan saute a chopped clove of garlic in a little oil, until brown. Add to beans. Just before serving add 1 T sugar and 1 T. white vinegar. Serve over rice.

(If you do not have a pressure cooker, use a crockpot and cook for 8-12 hours on low after soaking the beans)

Afterwards I like to make Black bean Chili from the leftovers.

6 chicken breast tenders

1 (15 oz) cans black beans or 4 c. home cooked ones

2 16 oz cans stewed or diced tomatoes

1 c. salsa mild or med.

14 1/2 oz can tomato sauce

2 t. chili powder

1/2 t. cumin

1/4 t. garlic powder

Tortilla chips

Grated cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Combine all ingredients in crock pot, except cheese, chips and sour cream. Cook on low 8 hours. Just before serving remove chicken and slice into bite size pieces. To serve put a handful of chips in the bottom of the bowl and ladle chili over top. Top with cheese and sour cream.

You can use more or less chicken if you want! If you like it spicier use spicy tomato sauce  instead of regular. To save money, I also buy #10 cans of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and freeze it. You can put them in the crockpot all frozen if you want.