I love taking on challenges in the kitchen. One of the challenges I gave myself was to figure out how to use less packaging when I eat. I am not perfect at this but, with one item at time, I can see improvement. 

Black beans were something I knew I could learn to make and eliminate a can, as it is easy to find black beans in bulk. Besides, homemade beans taste way better than canned. Black beans are a staple in our home, and thankfully we all like them.

Cooking black beans can be time consuming, about 2 hours.

But with my vinyl playing in the background and the aroma of bay leaves and cinnamon in the air, it’s all easy peasy. I make a big batch to last us about 6 weeks to 2 months. 

Ingredients:

4 cups Organic Black Beans 

Water or Vegetable Broth

1/4 Onion, cut in thin strips  

Garlic about 4-5 cloves. (But you can use as much as you prefer)

Spices

Fresh Ground Pepper

Sea Salt

2 Bay Leaves

Cinnamon

Dash of Salt to plump the beans. 

Instructions:

Once your beans are rinsed, put them in a big pot. 

Fill water over beans and bring to a boil. 

Once you get a boil, bring down to medium. 

 Then add onions, garlic, spices, 2 bay leaves, 3 twirls of fresh ground pepper, and a dash of salt,and my (not so) secret — 2 sprinkles of cinnamon.

You can use any spice you wish, but you can get very good bean flavor with just black pepper and little salt. 

Water will evaporate, so just keep adding more water or broth, while cooking. 

Cook up to 2 hours.

You will know when it’s ready by biting one bean in half. 

You don’t want them too soft or too hard, you want them just right — Goldilocks right! 

Once beans are cooled down, they are ready to eat fresh. Since I make big batches, I divide it in individual freezer containers, which I bring out of the freezer once a week. I use tupperware containers but you can use whatever container you probably already have.

Enjoy!