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Easy and Creamy Cuban Black Beans

This quick, easy and creamy Cuban Black Beans dish will wow your taste buds with the very first delicious bite. Aromatic Cuban spices, spicy jalapenos, sweet tomatoes, zesty onions, earthy garlic, hearty black beans and tasty bell peppers come in the most beautiful manner.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Cuban
Servings: 4
Calories: 216kcal
Author: Kayla

Ingredients

  • 1 small jalapeno-pepper, minced
  • ½ cup red-bell-pepper, minced
  • ½ cup vegetable-broth
  • ½ cup green-bell-pepper, minced
  • ½ cup water (or broth)
  • 1 cup yellow-onions, minced
  • 1 tbsp tomato-paste
  • 1 tbsp garlic, finely minced
  • 2 tsp sherry-vinegar
  • 1 can petite diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
  • 2 can black-beans, drained and rinsed (15.5 oz)

For the Herb/Spices Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp dried minced onion-flakes
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¼ tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp garlic-powder
  • ½ tsp smoked-paprika
  • 1 tsp onion-powder
  • ½ tsp ground-cumin
  • ½ tsp sea-salt, or more to taste

Optional

  • ⅛ - ¼ cayenne-pepper
  • chopped fresh-cilantro or parsley
  • cooked brown-rice or rice of choice

Instructions

  • In a small-bowl, then add all of the Herb/Spices Ingredients except simmer and bay leaves. Mix and put aside.
  • In a Dutch oven (I use it) add the minced onions, red bell peppers, green bell peppers and jalapenos, saute over moderate heat for 7-10minutes or till tender.
  • Add a water tbsp or so, if they begin to stick and/or to prevent-burning.
  • Add the tomato paste and minced garlic then saute for 30minutes.
  • Add the Herb/Spice mixture saute for a few seconds, simply to release their fragrance and then add the vegetable-broth, black-beanswater, sherry vinegar, petite diced tomatoes, bay leaves and water.
  • Stir well to blend, bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15minutes.
  • After 15minutes, then remove the cover and also flavor test for taste. Add the cayenne-pepper, then ramp-up any additional spices as required at this moment.
  • Then take a potato-masher or a fork and mash a few of these beans to make a creamy texture, stir well. Do not mash each the beans, more or less a 1/3 of these. Simmer for a couple of minutes.
  • Remove and discard the bay leaves. Serve immediately with rice and topped with fresh-cilantro or parsley.

Notes

Minced Vegetables: jalapeno pepper, onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and garlic are generally minced in the majority of Cuban Black Bean dishes.
This does take a little additional time. An extremely fine dice will do the job equally well, but you might need to sauté the veggies a bit longer as you need them tender.
We don't suggest use a food-processor as it will pulverize the veggies making them release a lot of water and they get soupy.
Vegetable Stock: we utilize Pacific-Organic Low-Sodium Vegetable-Stock.
We like this brand since it's Whole Food Plant Based compliant, since it doesn't contain MSG, does not have any oil, and doesn't include any highly-processed ingredients.
Sea Salt: you can adjust the sea-salt depending upon your taste.