Cuban Black Beans

A friend of mine whose originally from Cuba, Jose, who also happens to be our IT wizzard in the office made us a wonderful vegetarian Cuban lunch one day complete with Cuban music and a Cuban malt drink. For lunch, he made Cuban black beans, white rice and boiled yucca with mojo sauce. The food was simple, but oh so good! It was soul satisfying and comforting, I couldn't help myself so I asked him for the recipe for the black beans. Yesterday, I was talking to him again about food and cooking and it reminded me of his black bean recipe which I've never made up until now. So here is his recipe.

1 can of black beans, undrained and unrinsed

pinch of cumin

pinch of dried oregano

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/2 green pepper, seeded and finely minced

1 tbsp of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups of water

salt and pepper to taste

In a pot, sautee onion and garlic until golden then add the green peppers and sautee until soft about 5 minutes, season with cumin, dried oregano, pepper and the chopped cilantro leaves. Pour the can of beans including the liquid and add 1 1/2 cups of water. Cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with rice. I served mine with some sliced radishes for extra crunch.

Unfortunately I didn't follow his instruction and decided to drain the liquid and rinse the beans. It was not as good as I remembered it to be. I will make this again, this time I will follow his directions. Hopefully it will be just as good.