Black Beans And Rice

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed
• 7 cups water
• 1 cup fully cooked lean ham, diced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 teaspoons pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoons cumin (i used only 1/2 tsp)
• 1 teaspoon salt (i omitted it)
• 1 bay leaf (i forgot)
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (i used it cause i like the taste it gives) (optional)
• 4 cups chicken broth (i used reduced sodium and fat)
• 2 cups uncooked long grain rice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (i omitted it)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil (i omitted it)
• 3/4 cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3/4 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons jalapeno peppers, chopped

Recipe

• 1 place beans in a dutch oven or soup kettle; add water to cover by 2 inches. bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 to 4 hours or until softened (i waited 4 hours). drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid.
• 2 return beans to the pan. add 7 cups water, ham, garlic, pepper, cumin, salt, bay leaf and liquid smoke if desired. bring to a boil. reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender.
• 3 meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring broth an drice to a boil. reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. just before serving, discard bay leaf from bean mixture; add vinegar and oil (i don't know if it's supposed to be that way, but i had a lot of liquid and didn't see why i would add vinegar and oil.) serve over rice. sprinkle each serving with 1 tablespoon cheese, 1 tablespoon red pepper and 1 teaspoon jalapenos.