Help Needed Cooking Black Beans

Cafe Society
1

I’m looking for more ways to eat black beans.

There is, however, a problem - I have food allergies.

Unfortunately, MOST recipes I’m finding are heavy on the Mexican treatment which I absolutely can not do because I am deathly allergic to tomatoes. (Not liking cilantro doesn’t help, either, although at least cilantro won’t make me sick or kill me, I just don’t like the flavor)

That said - I’m quite happy eating black beans I cook with things like onion or garlic or even a (very little) bit of hot pepper of some sort. I put them in soups and stews. I spread them on toast. I do like black beans, even very plain black beans, although they’re a bit bland on their own.

I’m just looking to make them better.

Now, I know that traditional refried beans are made with lard - I’m thinking that I could do a black bean version of that. Anyone have a simple/minimal ingredient recipe for that, starting either with canned or from-scratch beans?

I’m also thinking slipping some bacon into the beans while I’m doing everything else would add a certain something - thoughts on that? Lard? Salt pork? I don’t normally eat pork at home so it’s not like I have ham bones or chunks of leftover pork hanging around. It’s pretty much either bacon or ham or none, and not much bacon or ham to be honest.

Looking forward to some answers here, because it’s gotta beat trudging through the kajillion recipes I get when googling black beans, 99.999999999999999% of which seem to insist tomatoes are a vital ingredient.

2

I love Cowboy Caviar. You can leave the tomatoes out. Avocado ok?

3

Yes, I can eat avocados without becoming ill.

Aside from that, though, the peas (yes, I can eat black beans but not black-eye peas - I’m allergic to many legumes although thankfully not all) and corn in your recipe (including the tortilla chips), along with the tomatoes, are all things that would land me in the hospital, or worse. At which point… I’m not sure it’s “cowboy caviar” anymore.

Which is why I said that Mexican style cooking, along with Tex-Mex, are ruled out for me. Too many ways to kill me.

So… thank you for trying, and I’m sure other readers will thoroughly enjoy the recipe but I must politely decline that one.

(I do know one restaurateur who has cooked Mexican food for me that I can eat, but he did that to prove that when my spouse was chowing down on his Mexican favorites I didn’t have to just sit there and sip ice tea, he could safely feed me. Which was awful damn nice of him and why his is the only Mexican restaurant I eat at.)

4

I grew up eating black beans. Here’s the recipe from my Cuban cookbook.

1 14 oz bag of dry black beans
2 quarts water
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
2 teaspoons of cumin
1 green bell pepper cleaned and cut into quarters
1/2 onion finely chopped
2 tablespoons of minced fresh garlic
1/4 cup pure Spanish olive oil
3 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1/4 cup dry white sherry wine
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Rinse beans, discard any stones and soak overnight in large pot with the baking soda, oregano, cumin and green pepper.
The next day, cook beans in the same water for about three hours until the beans are tender and the liquid is reduced and somewhat thickened. Don’t let the liquid totally boil away though so add water when necessary.

In a small pan, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is translucent. Add about three large tablespoons of the beans to this mixture and stir, simmering several minutes before adding all of this back to the beans. Mix well and then add the vinegar, wine, salt and remaining cumin. Cook about 20 more minutes and serve over rice.

Now, my sister was very picky so my mom routinely left out lots of these ingredients and the beans were still okay, but I do like all these goodies.

5

Yep, that’s the sort of thing I’m looking for. It does have more ingredients than I usually cook with, but I already have everything but the oregano and sherry in my cupboard already. Thanks.

6

Here’s a recipe that may not work, but since all I had to do was cut-n-paste, it’s worth a try. You can comment and that will help people know more about what your restrictions are. The reasons it might not be what you are looking for that I can see are: (1) it’s not straight-up black beans, they are a prominent ingredient but quinoa is the main item; (2) lots of ingredients - any others that you can’t eat? and (3) It’s a bit time-consuming to make. However, it’s tasty for several days and somewhat surprisingly I have found that it freezes pretty well.

Okay here goes:

QUINOA SALAD

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 limes, juiced (use a scant 2 TBS bottled lemon or lime juice if you’re trying to keep it simple)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper flakes or more to taste

(1 and ½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved) - SUBSTITUTE ABOUT 1/2 A LARGE JAR OF PIMENTO STRIPS - that way you won’t forgo the color or flavor the tomatoes were intended to add

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed - DOUBLE THIS IF YOU WANT A “BEANIER” RESULT

5 green onions, chopped into small pieces

¼ cup cilantro (BASIL OR PARSLEY IS FINE - A GENEROUS TBS OF DRIED BASIL WORKS IF YOU DON’T HAVE FRESH)

TOTALLY OPTIONAL: 1-2 whole chicken breast, poached and cut into strips

salt and pepper to taste (I’VE NEVER NEEDED THIS)

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes (10 seems enough). Set aside to cool.

Whisk olive oil, lime juice, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and red pepper flakes together in a bowl.

Combine quinoa, tomatoes (OR PIMENTOS), black beans, and green onions (and chicken if used) together in a bowl. Pour dressing over quinoa mixture; toss to coat. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and black pepper. Serve immediately or chill in refrigerator.

7

For all our Tex-Mex black beans we currently use this recipe from the Nopalito cook book.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pot, add half a chopped white onion and one small jalapeno, also chopped, cook until onion is translucent. Add 2 tbsp apple vinegar and cook an additional minute. Add 3 cups dried black beans, 8 cups of water and a tablespoon of kosher salt (or equivalent weight other salt). Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook until beans are tender, 1.5 to 2 hours.

We usually replace the jalapeno with some other hotness that we have at hand, such as adobo paste.

8

Cook with bacon, onions, and garlic. Hot sauce or chili flakes if you like heat. And your favorite seasoning mix (i.e. Jamaican jerk seasoning; Creole seasoning; curry seasoning; garam masala; Moroccan seasoning; etc.). I will often do this and mix black beans with refried pinto beans, which gives a nice mix of textures and flavors.

9

One time, I wanted to make traditional refried beans and mentioned I was going to try to find some lard. Mrs. L.A. nixed that idea immediately. She didn’t want lard in her beans. So I rendered the fat from bacon and used that instead. She was fine with filtered bacon grease, but not lard. :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyway, I season black beans simply: Lard Bacon grease, cumin, bay leaf, a little cayenne, and salt.

10

I like the substitution of tomatoes with pimentos - great idea! I think I’ll put that on my list when I’m up for something on a day off when I have time for a long cook and more ingredients.

OK, I take it back - I can do Tex-Mex if it’s like that one.

Also sounds good.

Oh, yes - I like that one, too. Another simple one.

Thanks everyone, much appreciated. And if anyone has more to add feel free.

11

If you want to try refried beans made with black beans, Trader Joe’s sells a canned version that’s quite good. Pretty sure the ingredient list is very short on those but I don’t have a can handy to check.

12

I love Cuban black bean soup and mine has a very similar recipe. I start it with a boiled ham bone or ham hocks. I add the picked meat back in at the end and stick blend it to a smoother consistency.

(I’m not Cuban and I don’t think this is traditional. I just needed another easy “go-to” ham bone soup besides split pea, senate bean and a few others. Hams have been .92$ a pound a few times in the last few years and I stock up.)

In a large pot, boil the ham bone or hocks until the meat is falling off the bone. Remove from the broth and cook beans in the broth

  • 1 ham bone or 2 ham hocks, boiled
  • 8 cups ham stock
  • 1 lb dried black beans
    Sauté and add:
  • oil for cooking
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 large green bell pepper diced
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 bay leaves

Top with some variation of:

  • lime juice
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Sour cream
  • Cider Vinegar
  • Cilantro
13

Thanks again to everyone.

Made a pot of black beans for myself tonight and while I didn’t follow any of the given recipes exactly they did give me some ideas.

I went with onion, anaheim pepper, chopped bacon and its grease, and cumin, largely because I had those things on hand. Since I started with canned beans I didn’t feel a need for additional salt. The result was simple to make, tasty, and made some nice tacos for dinner.

Think I’ll continue to experiment going forward, but just those things made for a nice flavor boost. (Keep in mind I like some types of beans enough that I’ll eat them plain, on their own and my minimal seasoning starts to make sense if you’re at all puzzled.)

14

I followed your recipe exactly, served over jasmine rice. Went great with sous vide pork chop.

Next time I’m going to add a habanero, I think.

15

We never used jasmine rice, but black beans and roast pork (Lechon Asado) was what we had for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. It’s been awhile since I’ve done the pork. I think I might roast one for myself this year.

Yum, making me hungry.

16

It would never occur to me to put any tomato ingredients in refried beans, black or other. I checked a bunch of recipes and none had tomato. Adding tomato to the search terms, a lot were recommendations to add chopped tomato as a garnish or topping (like on a tostada). If listed as an ingredient, it’s usually a small bit of paste which can be left out without significantly changing the end result.

I do like the pimento substitution @CairoCarol suggests. I’ll bet cheaper and possibly more readily available roast red peppers would do nicely, too.

17

The problem is that that garnish could kill me. And that’s not hyperbole. Once the tomato is chopped the juice gets on the rest of the food and there’s no way to eliminate it.

People will put tomatoes in all sorts of things you might not expect - I once ordered a Cesear salad and what arrived was half tomato! Definitely not traditional, and I had, as always, specified absolutely no tomatoes on anything, even as garnish, when I started ordering the meal. “Oh, well, that’s the way we do Cesear salad here!” Dear god, don’t get me started…

The end result is that I largely avoid Mexican food. I’ve only just started experimenting with it at home where I can control things.

18

I didn’t think it needed to be said but, in case it was, obviously, omit the ingredients that will kill you or that you don’t care for. Garnish is optional and cosmetic by definition. The point is that few Mexican bean recipes actually use tomato in the beans. The beans may go on to be included with dishes that include forbidden ingredients but don’t do that. Don’t deny yourself a lot of the awesome foods that Mexico has to offer at home for this one, easily sidestepped item.

It’s like saying you are having trouble making drinks with gin if you can’t eat olives and a lot of martini recipes call for an olive garnish. A martini without an olive is still a martini, just leave it off. Beans without a tomato or cheese or cilantro or lime juice garnish are still beans, just leave off those you can’t eat. The same goes for hot dogs, or Italian subs, or nachos or whatever; just leave off the hot peppers or sour cream you don’t want. It doesn’t fundamentally change the hot dog or sub. It’s not like eggplant Parmesan or Bloody Mary which really can’t be separated from their tomato foundation.

19

I get what you’re saying, and I am dipping my toe into Mexican food these days (remember that restaurant owner I mentioned up thread? He also pointed out to me that there is a lot of Mexican food that doesn’t have tomatoes.) However, it’s hard to learn to cook an ethnic cuisine when the vast majority of examples you encounter you simply can’t eat. So many restaurants automatically add the garnish, sometimes even when you ask them not to do so. Many restaurants make it clear they don’t want to deal with someone allergic (I understand it can be a hassle - I live with the hassle every day!) and make that clear by grudging service. Most of my friends who cook Mexican style add the tomatoes (and other items) somewhere along the line, often without even thinking because it’s such a habit. It’s been a big obstacle and a barrier to eating Mexican and Mexican-influenced food.

So I’m trying to learn this style of cooking for beans without having easy access to actual examples. You are correct, the bean recipes don’t require tomatoes, but the common taco sauces, most salsas, Spanish rice… so many things that so often land on the plate along with the beans that render the entire plate of food off limits for me.

So please be patient with me, as I try to find a way through this ethnic cuisine in a manner that is safe for me. I am, admittedly, a little paranoid about food on occasion but since some rather common foodstuffs have tried to kill me from time to time it’s not entirely unfounded. (Alright, it was my own over-reactive immune system that tried to kill me, but you know what I mean)

So… while we’re at it… any other ideas for Mexican-style cooking that doesn’t involve tomatoes? I’m always looking to expand my cooking repertoire, especially this year when I’m cooking entirely at home and trying not to get tired of my own cooking.

20

I looked up the ingredients for Tapatio, which is very common, and it does not have tomatoes. Things like carnitas, tacos, fajitas, and yes, refried beans don’t have tomatoes in them.