Yum-ta-DUM! I’m telling you what.
Make now – eat later….this bountiful bowl of black bean benevolence just made me all around better: at breakfast.
Take a scrumptuously slow sauté of onions, garlic and peppers, toss in some chopped fresh spinach (because that shiz is GOOD for you) and mix it all together with a can of black beans (cans = easy). Sock it away in the refrigerator and when you’re ready; heat it up and let it be the nest for a perfectly cooked egg. Or two.
Just the ticket when you want to put out a decent bite of brekkie without waking up at 5am to do it (hahah, yeah, no), this pot of subtly spiced black beauties will save your sanity when you have a number of people to feed, or you just want to do something nice in the a.m. for someone……….like Yo-Self!
Breakfast? Brunch? Breakfast for dinner? Hey, good food is good by me anytime. I’ve got a container of this stuff in my refrigerator riiiiight now and I am already obsessing over when I will be tucking into it next…………
Easy pickins’ for this. You will need an onion, red bell pepper, jalapeño pepper and a clove or two of garlic to start.
Now bring forth your best kung fu fighter and get to chopping these aromatics into a small, even-ish dice. Typically STRONG aggressive flavors, dispatching these guys into tidy proportions along with ample cooking time will serve to mellow and coax out their very best dispositions; even that jalapeño pepper! Be sure to pull out the seeds and ribs lurking inside that little taste-bud-buster, and don’t be stickin’ your fingers into your eye (or anywhere else) afterwards, yaKnowWhatI’mTryingToSayHere?
Take your time. It is about as complicated as this will get. 
Heat up a decent sized pan with a couple of glugs of olive oil, and pop in that diced onion (and a few rogue bits of pepper – ha). Sprinkle in a pinch of salt to help everybody get sweaty, and cook this over a medium high heat for 10 minutes. Now don’t you get all impatient and go skimping on the time here, you want these guys to get nice and soft and sweet, so stick with the plan! Go chop some spinach while you’re babysitting.
Consider it a multitasking WIN.
Once it’s time, push the red pepper and jalapeño on in with the onions, and spin it all around for another five minutes or so, until all the veggies are tender and caramelized and looking and smelling like deliciousness is happening. You may want to drizzle in a little extra olive oil if things seem to be getting squeaky….then turn down the heat and add the garlic and a half a teaspoon of ground cumin. These guys are last to the party because you do not want them to burn, so after a quick stir….
dump in that mountain of spinach. In the time it takes for that to wilt down, open and drain a can of black beans (I don’t even bother rinsing), and sort of smir them in.
You know, half stirring, partially smashing……smirring. Right. I used a mash-potato smoosher, but the back of a spoon is fine, you just want to get these a little chunked up.
And you are….DONE! Obviously you can have your way with these immediately (pretty stinkin’ awesome with Green Chile Sauce)….but for the sake of the do-ahead-save-time-later breakfast theme we have going on here, I say pop ’em in the fridge.
Breakfast quietly and painlessly awaits.
When you are ready to serve this to some (obviously) deserving human, all you have to do is toss your beans into a pan and gently heat them (you will most likely need to add a little water at this point to loosen them up) while you whip up some eggs. I am a huge fan of my eggs sort of over medium….. all luscious runny yolk and NO squiddly, gelatinous whites so I have found…..
The very best way to perfectly cook an egg every time. (check it out!)
No flipping (therefore, no chance of busting and ruining an otherwise excellently executed yolk) required! Now YOU, the smarty that you are……can make your eggs however which way you like. Ladle out some of those beans, top with your heuvos, and plunk over a couple of chunks of avocado.
Don’t forget the hot sauce.
Breakfast of your dreams….on a cloud of beans.
RECIPE BELOW: This makes enough bean “base” for up to six servings, and will keep in the refrigerator for up to four or five days. All that chopping and cooking will take less than thirty minutes, I do that part in the evening when I have the extra time, and re-heat the whole she-bang in the morning when I’m not so much feelin it. Then, all it takes is the couple of minutes required to cook an egg or two, peel and chop an avocado, and make this happen! In full disclosure….I DID chop a little cilantro just to make the photo pretty……..TOTALLY unnecessary fuss-buggery…….
- 1 red bell pepper, cleaned and cored and cut into a small dice
- 1 medium to large sweet onion, peeled and cut into a small dice
- 1 jalapeño pepper, ribs and seeds removed and cut into a small dice
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1-5 ounce package of raw spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 26.5 oz. can of black beans, drained (or use two 15 oz cans, no problem!)
- 1/2 teaspoon (or more if you like it) ground cumin
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt to taste
- Eggs! one to two per serving
- And totally optional but still.....
- Avocado, cubed (as much or little as you like!)
- Hot sauce! Your choice!
- Heat two or three tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot. Add the chopped onion, and cook over medium to medium high heat for ten minutes, stirring frequently, until soft. A pinch of salt will draw out the moisture in the onion and help this along.
- Add the chopped bell pepper and jalapeño, and continue stirring and cooking for another five minutes or until the veggies are all softened and even slightly caramelized.
- Add a little drizzle more olive oil at this point if the pan seems dry, and stir in the minced garlic and cumin. Turn the heat down to medium, and stir this around for only a minute, then add the chopped spinach.
- Once the spinach has wilted down, (a minute or two), mix in the beans. Slightly smash the beans against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon or use a potato masher to slightly smoosh up some (not all) of the beans. You can turn off the heat at this point and use the beans immediately OR refrigerate for up to five days.
- Gently reheat the beans in a pot on the stove or in the microwave for a few minutes, adding a little broth or even water to loosen them up to your desired consistency.
- Serve the beans ladled into a shallow bowl; top with eggs cooked to your liking and a scattering of chopped avocado. Salt and pepper to taste!
- These beans are BOMB! You can stuff 'em in a burrito, scoop them up with chips, serve them with rice Cuban-style, use them as a side next to anything porky (ribs, carnitas, etc.)......
- Cheap and easy, in the very best way.
1 Comment
Looks fabulous