Maylee at Beyond Gumbo 
One of my nutrition goals this summer is to cut back on the sodium (salt) in recipes and ramp up on the vegetable seasoning and spice flavors. For a healthy twist, I decided to make a new version my favorite black bean recipe by eliminating the sausage and chicken broth. These two ingredients add greatly to the sodium content of the recipe. Plus, I used one pound of dried black beans rather than canned beans which also reduces the sodium. I was pleasantly surprised with the results — the beans had lots of flavor and taste mighty fine. One pound of black beans seemed to exponentially multiply in volume when soaked; I ended up with enough cooked beans for supper plus six freezer containers for future meals.
Black beans are one of my favorite dried beans to add to meals. They are mild in flavor and easy to cook. Black beans compliment so many entrees — especially Mexican cuisine. Plus, is a vegan recipe. Add rice to yield a complete protein. (No need to include chicken, pork or fish at this meal.) For this recipe, I used dried beans rather than canned ones. The dried beans really don’t need to be soaked prior to cooking — although for this recipe I soaked them anyway.
To modify my traditional black bean recipe, my plan was to feature the flavors of vegetable seasonings and spices, rather than high-sodium sausage and chicken broth.
These seasonings included onion, bell pepper and bay leaves. I added these to the Instant Pot as I cooked the beans and also added these seasoning vegetables — plus garlic — to the final pot of beans.
For additional flavor, I added the ingredients of tomato paste, sherry cooking wine, cumin and oregano to the final pot of beans. Salt and pepper are optional; I did add small amounts of each to the cooked beans. I love black pepper when added to beans — but scaled down on the amount for my husband’s preference.
Making the Recipe
My reference recipe included instructions to soak the dried black beans overnight. Often I’ll skip this step for black beans; but decided to go along with the instructions for this recipe.
To soak the beans, I added water to cover the beans by several inches in a very large pot and boiled them for a minute. Then, I let the beans sit overnight — off the stove. After draining and rinsing the beans, I found that the beans had exploded to yield seven cups! Wow, so, so many beans!
Instant Pot Recipe
The black beans still need to be cooked further. My Instant Pot came in handy for this step. I added half an onion, half a bell pepper and two bay leaves to the Instant Pot. Plus, the soaked beans and six cups of water. (You can’t forget about the water — the Instant Pot won’t come to pressure without water.)
It took 20 minutes of pressure cooking time to completely cook the beans. (Total cooking time was about an hour — 10 minutes to come to pressure; 20 minutes cooking time and 20 minutes to release the pressure.)
While the beans were cooking, I continued on with the recipe. This included sautéing more chopped onion, bell pepper and crushed garlic in oil in a large pot. Then I stirred in a sauce made of the remaining ingredients (tomato paste, sherry cooking wine, cumin and oregano.)
When the beans were finished cooking in the Instant Pot, I decanted off most of the liquid and added the beans to the pot with the seasonings. (At this point, add salt and pepper if you are including these ingredients.)
This simmered on the stove for about 30 minutes to absorb the flavors.
The recipe is finished. The beans make a great accompanying dish for many entrées.
Adding the vegetable seasonings and spices to the cooked black beans gave a nice “flavor” pop. It reminds me of many Cajun recipes. And, the best part of this modified recipe is that this is a flavorful dish without high-salt broth and sausage. Black beans add healthy fiber and nutrients (vitamins and minerals) to our diets; join me on this healthy roll.
Did I mention that this recipe qualifies as a vegan recipe — no sausage or chicken broth in the recipe. And it can easily be served without any meat. Make the black beans — along with rice — the “main dish” for the meal.
One pound of dried black beans made a large pot of cooked beans. Get ready! Fortunately, the beans freeze well; I have lots of future meals in my freezer.
Vegan Black Beans
Ingredients:
- 1 lb dried black beans
- 1 large white onion, divided
- 1 large green bell pepper, divided
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup sherry cooking wine
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp salt, optional
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, optional
Method and Steps:
- Soak the dried black beans for an hour to overnight: First, sort through the black beans to make sure there is no debris in the package. Then, add the beans to a large pot. Cover with water to at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil on the stove. Then remove the beans from the stove. Let the beans sit on the counter for at least an hour to overnight. When ready to finish the recipe, drain the beans and rinse.
- Add the soaked beans to a 6-quart Instant Pot. Add six cups of water.
- Peel and cut the onion in half. Core the bell pepper and cut in half. Add one half of the onion and the bell pepper to the pot along with 2 bay leaves. (Reserve the other onion and bell pepper halves for the Step #5.)
- Lock the lid of the Pressure Cooker. Set Pressure Setting to 20 minutes and “Start.” When the cooking time is complete; the timer should sound. Let the pressure release naturally for 20 minutes. Then, if needed, release remaining pressure manually.
- Meanwhile, continue with recipe. Chop the remaining onion and bell pepper halves.
- Add oil to another large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, bell pepper and crushed garlic. Sauté for about 10 minutes until the onion and bell pepper begin to soften and wilt.
- In a small bowl, combine the tomato paste, sherry cooking wine, cumin and oregano. Add to the pot with the wilted seasonings and stir to combine.
- Remove and discard the onion and bell pepper halves — and bay leaves — from the Instant Pot containing the cooked black beans. Transfer the cooked beans to the large pot with the seasonings and tomato paste sauce. (Decant off most of the cooking liquid.)
- Simmer on low heat, uncovered, for 30 minutes to blend the flavors and reduce excess cooking liquid. Stir occasionally.
- May freeze remaining black beans.
The recipe looks delicious! I find that making my beans from dried tastes so much better than anything in a can, and we have control of the salt and other additives.
Thank you; yes I agree “one hundred” percent about the flavor of dried beans. Of course, you have to plan ahead…so, I revert to using canned beans in a pinch for some recipes. I’ve really learned to enjoy black beans — have a lot in the freezer for simple meals.
I think 90% if my use of the instant pot pressure cooker is making beans!
Hello, yes, I agree.
Hello, in the meantime while you wait for persimmons; you can always make this with pumpkin. I grew up in Virginia; we had a wild persimmon tree along the road cloase to my home. Those persimmons really made you pucker — this varieity is originally an oriental-type of persimmons and is not as astringent. As for pollination; I’ve always heard you need two trees; but I have only one tree — and it is full of persimmons. I’m guessing perhap bothe the male and female buds are on the same tree…just a thought. Enjoy!
You had so many great ingredients, it was almost a soup! What would you have to do to turn it into an actual soup? Just add more water?
Hello, Thanks for visiting my blog; Yes, this is almost a soup. To thin it donw, add either water or vegetable broth/stock — or if you weren’t concerned about the vegan aspect — I’d add some reduced-salt chicken broth for flavor. Enjoy!