Crock Pot Cuban Black Beans & Rice

If you're poor beans and rice are the perfect combination for a healthy main course. Not that you have to be poor, mind you. Proteins, carbohydrates, and that lovely poo-fluffing fiber; with a minimal addition of veggies you also get better carbs and some useful vitamins and minerals. The problem is making beans and rice taste good, which I've seldom known anyone adroit at. It's not at all difficult, though, as you're about to see.

Today's Specimen

Ingredients

• 2 (14 oz.) cans of black beans


• 2 cups brown basmati rice


• 4 strips of thick hickory-smoked bacon, cut 1½ inches


• 1 large poblano pepper (about 1½ cups), diced


• 1 medium yellow onion (about 1½ cups), diced


• 2 cloves garlic (about 1 tbsp.), fine diced


• 2 cups vegetable broth


• 1½ cups water


• 1 tbsp. Bragg Liquid Aminos®


• 1 tsp. white vinegar


• 1 tbsp. ground cumin


• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper


• ¼ tsp. marjoram


• ⅓ tsp. black pepper


• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. In a large saucepan on medium heat cook the onion in the olive oil until it starts to brown.


2. Add the poblano and garlic and cook — stirring frequently — for another five minutes.


3. Add the bacon with the Liquid Aminos and white vinegar and cook until the bacon is half-way cooked (sweating and the meat discolored slightly) and most of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. The onions should be caramelized.


4. Add the contents of the saucepan with any residual liquid to a crock pot with the beans, rice, vegetable broth, and water to a crock pot set on high. Cover and cook for four to six hours, checking occasionally to stir and be sure the liquid hasn't evaporated. It's finished when there's very little liquid left to it when the mixture is stirred.

Next Time in the Lab

I can't think of anything I'd do to this recipe other than maybe toss in more cayenne pepper to heat things up — or perhaps a finely diced habanero — or a diced tomato for extra vegetable content. Other than that, the flavor was perfect: slightly sweet and smoky but not so much that the flavor of the beans and the rice were overpowered.

• Add a large tomato, diced.


• Add a habanero, finely diced.


• Increase the garlic to three cloves.

Bragg Liquid Aminos® is similar to soy sauce, and is in fact a soy product, but has a smokey taste to it. I haven't tried this, but I imagine using a similar amount of soy sauce with a two or three drops of liquid smoke would replicate the flavor of it without necessitating an additional purchase.