Black Beans and Yellow Rice

When I first tried making black beans, I had no clue what I was doing. I bought a can of Goya and made some rice. Then I opened the can of beans onto the rice and tried to figure out why so many people raved about black beans. They were mealy, kind of cold, and super bland. Then I checked the Internet and it turns out you cook canned black beans and season then before eating. And my parents thought I didn’t learn anything in college.

Additional life lesson? Spices make everything better. I like my beans spicy, so you’ll see a variety combined in the recipe but for some reason I wasn’t feeling my traditional white rice accompaniment when I started making these beans for dinner. I could pretend that it was a culinary yearning to expand my palette, but in reality I just wanted to experiment with turmeric again. I bought my first container for my lentil soup, but it was just sitting in my cabinet begging to be used.

Fun fact about turmeric: it’s also called the poor man’s saffron. Very apt in my situation.

So beans and yellow rice it was, and the turmeric was a very nice addition to a staple of my diet. Give it a shot!

Black Beans and Yellow Rice

This version has a nice medium-heat burn to it, but feel free to reduce the seasoning to reflect your preferences. You can always add more spice, but there’s only so much milk you can drink to deal with the burn. I really suggest adding some lime juice at the end – it tastes amazing. The yellow rice can just as easily be substituted for regular rice (or brown rice) given time constraints. Finally, I made my yellow rice in a rice cooker, which was tricky, but gave you the instructions for using a regular pot. If you want to use a rice cooker (and who wouldn’t? They’re amazing), either do the first step of the rice in a separate pan and then add the mixture and water to the rice cooker or do what I did – manually hold the rice pot down so the heater engages for a couple minutes before adding water and the lid. It’s a judgment call, though your fingertips might thank you if you try to transfer method.

Ingredients:

Black Beans

1 15-oz can black beans (I usually use Goya)

1 green pepper, sliced into small cubes

1/2 onion, sliced into small cubes

1-2 garlic gloves, thinly sliced (or run through a garlic press)

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

2 tablespoons olive oil

Dash of red pepper flakes

Salt

Yellow Rice

1/2 cup basmati rice

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon olive oil

Optional toppings:

Cheese

Lime

Equipment:

Pan, pot (with a lid)

Make the beans: Pour olive oil into pan and heat on medium-high heat. Add green pepper, onion, and garlic and cook until onion is translucent. Add spices and salt. Partially open the can of black beans and pour the liquid into the pan. When the liquid has mostly been absorbed, add the black beans. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

As soon as you’ve finished with the beans, start the rice. They should finish at about the same time.

Make the rice: Add olive oil, turmeric, and rice to the pot. Stir for a few minutes, making sure the rice is evenly coated by olive oil and turmeric. Add the water and cook rice as normal – cover with lid and barely-simmer for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid is gone. Remove pot from heat and let sit, covered, for about 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork and serve.