Frijoles Negro con Arroz (Black Beans and Rice)

Nothing can beat the taste of my mom's black beans and rice but these beans come close. I soak the beans overnight and they take hours to cook so this is a perfect weekend recipe to make and save in portioned out containers to quickly heat up during the rest of the week.

1 lbs dried Black Beans soaked in 4 cups of cold water overnight

1 White Onion (1/2 for initial boil and 1/2 for sofrito)

1 Green Pepper or 2 cubanelle pepper (again half for

initial boil and half for sofrito)

4 cloves of Garlic

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1 bay leaf

2 packages Goya seasoning sin achiote

1 tablespoon Salt

Black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 cup White Rice

Soak black beans overnight in 4 cups of cold water and do not discard the water. Add more cold water before cooking to make sure that water covers the beans. Add 1/2 green pepper (or 1 cubanelle pepper cut in half and seeded) and 1/2 onion to beans. Boil beans then lower heat to medium once boiling and cook for approximately one hour until beans are soft.

When hour is almost up, make sofrito with generous amount of olive oil warmed over medium heat in separate skillet, rest of onion, green pepper and smashed and chopped up garlic cloves. Once sofrito is soft but not browned, add one cup of soft beans into skillet and mash with fork.

Remove onion in pepper from pot of beans and replace with sofrito and mashed bean mixture. Add herbs and seasonings and let boil until soft - over an hour. Check on beans often to stir and add hot water to keep them covered in simmering water over medium heat.

After an hour of cooking with sofrito mixture make one cup of white rice. I boil one cup of white rice in 2 1/2 cups water and a splash of olive oil. I do not add salt because I have made seasoned beans heavily. Once most of the water is evaporated from the rice, I turn to low and cover pot. When rice is finished I add to beans and stir well and cook together another 10 -15 minutes so flavors mix together.

Once off the heat, some families add a splash more of olive oil or add balsamic vinegar. Enjoy as you wish!