Refried Black Bean Salad

BrotherAdso's Note:

Refereshing yet warm, with wonderful contrasts of texture and flavor. Healthy, too!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 2-4

Yield: 2.0 big bowls

• 2 cups cooked black beans or 2 cups two cans black beans, liquids reserved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 -3 teaspoons diced garlic
• 2 -3 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons cayenne
• 2 teaspoons cilantro
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 6 leaves romaine lettuce
• 2 small tomatoes, diced
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups enriched rice, cooked
• Tabasco sauce, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet, add the garlic and onions and saute for 3 minutes.
2. Add the spices, except the cilantro, and saute 2-3 minutes more.
3. Add the beans and cilantro and cook for 10-15 minutes, mashing with a potato masher or back of a spoon intermittently until the onions, beans, spices, etc are one big mass.
4. Add half the rice, mash into the the bean mixture.
5. Mix the tomato, cucumber, romaine, and remaining rice.
6. Add the warm bean mixture to the salad, carefully mix together.
7. Serve immediately with spice, scallions, and/or tabasco to taste.

Reviews

[Kumquat the Cat's friend]

WARNING: Proceed with caution. This recipe is VERY HOT as written ("warm" is definitely not the right adjective here and I think BrotherAdso wrote this with tongue-in-cheek humor). To make this BF friendly, I used only 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin and 3/4 teaspoons cayenne. I then added tabasco to my portion. Even with these adjustments, the recipe was too hot for my BF's taste (but not mine, and I'm writing the review:D). I added all of the reserved liquid to the beans as they cooked, and there is a minor disconnect between the ingredients and instructions, so I used scallions instead of cilantro because that's what I had at home. Cilantro I'm sure would have been tasty too. The beans were very delicious and the mix of textures was nice too. Other than adjusting the spices to taste, I recommend cooking the rice in vegetable broth. I split this recipe into 3 servings, and took the leftover serving to work for lunch (separate container for beans so I could heat those up). Very high in fiber too. Thanks!