Cuban Black Beans - Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures (2024)

This quick, easy, and creamy Cuban Black Beans dish will wow your taste buds with the first delicious bite. Aromatic Cuban spices, zesty onions, spicy jalapeños, earthy garlic, sweet tomatoes, tasty bell peppers, and hearty black beans come together in the most delightful way. This humble bean dish is sure to please the whole family with its tasty and flavorful twist. Serve it with chewy brown rice for a comforting meal you’ll want to snuggle up with – yum!

Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.

Ingredients

Scale

• 1 cupyellow onions, minced *
• ½ cupgreen bell pepper, minced *
• ½ cupred bell pepper, minced *
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, minced *
• 1 Tablespoon garlic, finely minced *
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
• ½ cupwater(or broth)
• ½ cupvegetable broth*
• 1 [ 14.5 oz. can ]petite diced tomatoes
• 2 [ 15.5 oz. cans ]black beans, drained and rinsed

Herb/Spices Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoononion powder
• 1 teaspoongarlic powder
• 2 Tablespoon dried minced onion flakes
• ½ teaspoongroundcumin
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoonoregano
• ½ teaspoonsea salt(+/-) *
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/8 to ¼ cayenne pepper(optional)

Other Optional Ingredients:

• Cooked brown rice (or rice of choice)
• Chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

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1. In a small bowl, add all the Herb/Spices Ingredients exceptcayenne pepper and bay leaves. Mix and set aside.
2. In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven, skillet or similar stock pot, add the minced onions, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and jalapenos, sauté over medium heat until they are tender, approximately 7 to 10 minutes.Add a tablespoon or so of water if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
3. Add the minced garlic and tomato paste, sauté for 30 seconds, add the Herb/Spice mix, sauté for about 30 seconds, just to release their fragrance then add the vegetable broth, water, petite diced tomatoes, sherry vinegar, bay leaves and black beans. Stir well to combine, bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. After 15 minutes, remove the cover and taste test for flavor, add the cayenne pepper, ramp up any other spices as needed at this time. Then take a potato masher or a fork and mash some of the beans to create a creamy texture, stir well. Don’t mash all of the beans, just about a 1/3 of them. Simmer for a few minutes.
5. Remove and discard the bay leaves, serve immediately with rice, and topped with fresh cilantro or parsley.

*Minced Vegetables: The onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, and garlic are typically mincedin most Cuban Black Bean dishes. This does take some extra time. A very fine dice will work equally well, but you may have to sauté the veggies a little longer as you want them tender. We do not suggest using a food processor as it tends to pulverize the veggies causing them to release too much water and they become soupy.

*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.

*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

*Storage:Refrigerate, use within 7 days.