I love black beans and rice. Since I don’t have much time to cook during the week, I nor­mally pur­chase boxed or bagged beans and rice from the store. Since rice, beans, and spices are typ­i­cally sold dried, the prepack­aged mixes are not bad. I like them. How­ever, I have occa­sion­ally tried to make my own beans and rice. This is one of my favorite dishes. I feel like I should know how to make it. I use black beans and rice as a side, to make que­sadillas, in bur­ritos, or as a simple snack.

Usu­ally, I do not have a lot of luck with beans and rice, but today I came up with a good recipe. It’s not per­fect, but it is good enough for me to record and share and prob­ably make again.

Ingre­di­ents

• 1 to 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cloves shallot, minced
• 1 Tbsp. cumin (at least)
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 1 14.5oz. can of chicken broth
• 1 15.5oz. can of low sodium black beans (I like Goya), drained with water reserved
• 1/16 to 1/8 lb. ground pork, chopped to min­i­mize the grain size
• 1 cup of medium grain rice
• The leaves of a sprig of oregano, minced
• The juice of half a lime
• Half a jalepeno pepper, thickly sliced
• Salt

Direc­tions

1. Heat the oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and saute until starting to brown.
2. Add the cumin and saute for about 30 or 45 sec­onds, when the aroma should develop. Quickly add the ground pork, if being used, and saute until just brown.
3. Add the black beans and saute for a few minutes.
4. Add the chicken broth and the water from the black beans. To make sure I got it all, I poured my chicken broth into the bean can and then poured the broth into the pot. Add the thyme, sliced jalepeno, lime juice, oregano, and salt as desired (I added at least a tea­spoon). Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add the rice, stir and bring back to a boil. Cover and cook over very low heat until the rice is cooked.
6. Once the rice is ready, fluff and serve.