Use dried black beans for a cheap, delicious, flavorful meal (or side)

Did you recently stock up on dried black beans? Or, were you one of the people wondering why people bought up all the dried beans, rice, and toilet paper? Crazy times!

My older college-aged son made a black bean dish and it was delicious. Yea, I was surprised too! Who knew black beans could be delicious! I have a vegetarian in the family so we ate it as part of our main meal served on rice. It would be equally awesome as a side too!

It's a flavorful, saucy (perfect on rice), inexpensive to make and if we have leftovers after a couple of days, we freeze them.

Honestly, I have never really liked canned beans. Dried beans have a nicer texture (not as mushy) and aren't nearly as salty. You certainly can add salt to your dried bean recipes (I did for this one) but you will probably use less salt than in a can of beans.

Soak the dried black beans overnight or for 8 hours before cooking

Most recipes recommend soaking overnight. I just soak for the day.
Simply put the dried black beans into a bowl. Pick through the beans to see if there are any small stones or anything that shouldn't be there and discard. I've never found anything but beans. Ever. Then and cover the dried beans with water. There should be about two inches of water above the level of the beans. The minimum soaking time should be about 8 hours.

Ingredients

1 pound bag of dried black beans - soaked (see above)
1 medium onion peeled and chopped into small pieces (about the size of the rehydrated beans) This will be about 1 ½ cups of chopped onion.
2 medium carrots - sliced into coins then chopped into pieces of similar size to the beans.
4 garlic cloves - minced or finely chopped.
¼ cup rice vinegar
1 ½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon kosher or rough ground salt
¼ cup olive oil

Directions

Drain soaked beans.
Onions and carrots should be chopped into pieces approx. the size of the rehydrated beans.
Using a heavy large stockpot or dutch oven, pour enough oil (roughly ¼ cup) so you have a thin layer of oil on the bottom of the pot.
Heat pot on medium-high.
Add carrots and onions to the hot pot. Stir occasionally until onions are soft - approximately 5 minutes. The onions will pick up the color of the carrots.
Add finely chopped garlic to the pot and stir continually for 1 to 2 minutes.
Use the rice vinegar to deglaze the pot (deglaze - add to the pot and scrape up the cooked bits from the bottom of the pot).
Add the drained soaked beans.

Add dried oregano.
Add roughly 8 cups of water. You want enough water in the pot to cover the beans plus about 2 inches. Remember, it will be easier to add liquid later rather than take it away during the cooking process.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.
Simmer for about 1 to 1 ½ hours until beans are tender.
If while simmering, beans are not covered in water, add a bit more. Beans should be just covered in a thick liquid when done cooking.
Add salt to bean mixture about ½ hour before finishing. After cooking for ½ hour after adding salt, taste to see if the beans are salty enough. This seems like a lot of salt but we are starting with unsalted beans. Canned beans have even more salt than what these beans will have.
Taste prior to serving to adjust flavor. Add more salt if needed (and perhaps more oregano).
Serve on a bed of rice.

The beans have a nice sauce and a delicious flavor from the onions, garlic, and oregano. The carrots are just in there because we all need to eat more carrots!

You can also serve these beans as a side like we did the day we had our rootbeer ribs.