Blades's Black Beans
Updated January 29, 2023
- Total Time
- 4 hours, plus overnight soak
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 pound dried black beans, washed and picked over
6 cups chicken stock, approximately
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 plum tomato, chopped
½ cup minced green bell pepper
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
⅛ teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ pound baked ham, cut into ½-inch pieces
Salt to taste
Sour cream and cilantro sprigs, for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 to 8 servings)
47 grams carbs; 13 milligrams cholesterol; 363 calories; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 11 grams fat; 10 grams fiber; 706 milligrams sodium; 20 grams protein; 7 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Soak the beans overnight in cold water. Drain.
- Step 2
Place the beans in a large, heavy pot, cover with water and simmer for four hours, adding some stock to cover the beans as the liquid is reduced.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until golden, then add the remaining ingredients except the ham, salt and garnishes. Simmer for three minutes, stirring.
- Step 4
Stir the ham and the contents of the skillet into the beans. Simmer, covered, for two hours, stirring and adding more stock to cover the beans as necessary.
- Step 5
Season with salt and serve with sour cream and sprigs of cilantro
Private Notes
Comments
This has been my go to recipe for a hearty black bean dish since it was first published. I still have the now yellowed clipping. It is simply delicious!
I’ve been cooking this recipe ever since it came out in 1991 and it’s been a mainstay of my cooking ever since. I usually cook as written but sometimes I add a meaty smoked ham hock to the broth as it’s cooking to add that extra depth. I was delighted to see the original story attached to the recipe - it’s worth a read when making this. If I had a friend like Gabriel Garcia Marquez dropping by I’d make this too....
Lol I'm here now because I can't find my yellowed clipping! I do find that 6 hours of cooking is unnecessary. It's generally done at 3 and 1/2 hours.
Is it correct to say, get the beans going, do the skillet stuff, put that stuff and the ham into the beans, and cook until you like the consistency of the beans? It's a little confusing to say "cook for 4 hours" and "cook for two hours" with an in-between step that only takes a few minutes.
You can streamline this recipe using a pressure cooker. Same ingredients, just different cooking method. Delicious, been making this for >20 years, always get asked for the recipe.
Like some others, I have been making this wonderful dish for over a decade using a yellowed and stained newspaper clipping. So happy to find it here. My husband has an aversion to cilantro so I use cumin in its place. It is a delicious dinner with a green salad.