Thursday, November 13, 2008

Honey Chipotle Black Beans


This is a recipe I've been fiddling around with for a while. I think I've pretty much got it down now.

Super Easy Honey Chipotle Black Beans:

Ingredients-
3 cans black beans (yes, canned beans- this is where the easy part comes in)
1 TB vegetable oil
1 medium onion- diced
1 green pepper- diced
1/2 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce- peppers removed and minced
(this will make it about medium heat- adjust the amount to your desired heat)
2 cloves garlic- minced
Honey
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
1 lime- juiced
Cilantro- finely chopped

Directions-
1- Open one can of black beans, dump into a bowl and mash them. You're trying to make a paste that thickens the beans. I usually just use the back of a large spoon to crush it. Once this can is mashed combine it with the other two cans.
2- On medium, heat the vegetable oil in a large pot (a 6 quart or so Dutch oven works great).
3- Add the onion, green pepper, chipotle peppers and garlic to the heated oil to make a sofrito. Sautee over medium heat until onions and peppers are soft and tender.
4- Add the beans and turn the heat down to low. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes or so. Just look to see when it gets to the thickness you want. The longer it cooks, the thicker it will get.
5- Add salt, pepper and cumin to taste (I like a lot of cumin). Add in the honey. (Really the amount depends on how sweet you like it. I would say I do around a tablespoon or so, which is fairly moderate sweetness.) Simmer for a few more minutes, stirring more frequently.
6- Take off the heat. Add the lime juice and cilantro, mixing them in with everything else. Let cool just a little before serving.

I think that you'll find that these are some very tasty beans. Much better than just opening a can. This is a vegetarian recipe, but if you wanted to add a little meat, bacon is mighty tasty in it. It's also possible to omit the chipotle peppers, making it much milder, but I'd recommend increasing the cumin and decreasing the honey then. Serve this with rice and your favorite Latin dish (be it Mexican, Cuban or what have you).

1 comment:

aubrie said...

That looks ridiculously good. I can't wait to try it out.

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