Print

Baked Brazilian Black Beans

Prevent your screen from going dark

Makes 4 Servings 1x

Time 1 Hour with cooked beans, largely unattended

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • About 2 tablespoons minced fresh chile (like jalapeño or Thai), or red chile flakes or cayenne
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (about 12 ounces; canned are fine; don’t drain)
  • 1 large yellow-black plantain or ripe banana, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 3 cups cooked or canned black beans, drained but still moist
  • 1 cup bean-cooking liquid or water
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Put the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chile and ginger and cook for another minute, stirring.
  2. Transfer the onion mixture, along with the tomatoes and plantain, to a food processor or blender and purée.
  3. Combine the tomato mixture with the beans, bean- cooking liquid, and thyme in an ovenproof dish. Taste and add salt and pepper, then cover and bake until bub- bling, about 40 minutes. Serve hot. Or cool and store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

 

Recipe from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Recipe variations

Baked Curried Black Beans
Replace the thyme with a couple of fresh or dried curry leaves, adding them with the chile in Step 1. Add 1 tablespoon curry powder before baking in Step 3.

Smoky Baked Black Beans
Subtly smoky and deli- cious: Substitute garlic for the ginger, using more if you like. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón) and 1/2 cup cubed smoked tofu before baking in Step 3.

Brazilian Black Beans and Rice
Simple and more substantial: Stir in 11/2 cups long-grain rice and 1 cup vegetable stock or water in Step 3; bake until the rice is tender, which will take about the same amount of time.