Photo credit: simplyrecipes.com

Years ago, some good friend (I can’t remember who) made me a dinner that included a black bean dish made with orange. I’d love to know its origin. Cuban? Brazilian? Can anyone tell us?

Every-so-often I try to reproduce it. My latest experiment is on behalf of new baby Leo and his parents, Suz and Ted. Such a lovely family, I sure hope the beans turn out well for them.

Black Beans and Orange

This morning, I cooked the black beans plain in the pressure cooker. (For more on pressure cooker cooking see the Chicken and Beans and Greens post here.)

I weighed out 1 pound of dried black beans; sorted through them for any little stones; rinsed them; threw them in the pot; added water up to the 8 cup measure; drizzled a little oil on top (so the frothing doesn’t clog the cooker’s valves); set the timer for 30 minutes at High Pressure; and let the pressure release naturally after the beep sounded.

While the beans were cooking, I warmed a sauté pan to medium heat; added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil; and slowly sautéed a sliced onion, 2 cloves of chopped garlic, and an inch of peeled, chopped ginger.

While the onions were melting, I measured out spices into a bowl: 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 3 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon ground sage, 2 teaspoons salt ( I use Herbamare), and chili powder to taste (put a little on your tongue to check for spiciness).

When the onions were translucent, I took the pan off the heat and stirred in the spices. Once the spices were warm and fragrant, I added a layer of orange flavor by grating the peel of half of an organic orange into the mixture. Then I added the juice of half of the orange and the juice of half of a lime.

Once the beans were done, I drained the excess liquid, leaving about a cup of liquid behind. I took the bay leaves out of the sauté pan and pushed the rest of the spice mixture into the beans.

Just before serving, I plan to add the juice from the other half of the orange and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Today, it will go with collards, brown rice and salad.

I hope this happy family enjoys the meal!

Love & Light,

Valerie