Don’t you love easy, great tasting recipes?  This one is delicious and easy, but admittedly takes a solid chunk of time – thankfully most of that is spent waiting for the beans to boil.  I also hope you have a rice cooker – it makes cooking the rice much easier.  You want to cook more rice than beans – if you want to have two cups of rice, cook about a cup of beans.  Also, feel free to play with this recipe – I love garlic and spicy food, so this might be a little strong for you.  Alternatively, you might want to kick it up a notch.  Feel free!

What you need is dry black beans, garlic, onion, chili powder, basil leaf, and salt (in addition to the rice).  First, wash the beans for at least five minutes.  Boil the beans in salt water on about medium heat for three hours, stirring intermittently.  Halfway through, add in one basil leaf and half an onion for every cup of beans.  For the last hour, turn up the heat a little.  Once this is done, stain the beans, making sure not to lose the onion or basil, and return it to the pot.  Mix in the herbs and spices, and salt to taste (making sure it is mixed well).  Cooking the rice in a cooker should take about an hour max, so start it around the time you turn up the heat.  Put the rice in a bowl and cover it up with beans!  I love it well mixed.

So what can you do to make this simple meal even better?  Grated cheese is a great choice, preferably mixed in while the beans are hot so it melts to perfection (preferably in the bowl, not the pot).  I also love some sour cream mixed in – it contrasts the spiciness, adding depth to the flavor.  To give it a slightly more Mexican flavor, you can add in some chopped lettuce and cilantro.  Another great idea is to pan-cook a chicken breast and to marinate it with the same spices as the beans.  The best idea for this is to prepare the meat by soaking it in a mixture of vinegar and the spices overnight – the vinegar tenderizes the meat and helps the spices soak in.  Then dice the meat and do a rub right before you cook it – delicious!

Now get out there and see what recipes you can make out of this!

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