When we were kids, our understanding of vegetarians was all they ate were black beans and rice. We now know that isn’t true at all, however we do love going back to this as a staple. Warm rice and beans with zesty cilantro cream on top is straight up delicious. It’s also quick and it’s easy to substitute whatever veggies you have on hand to help you clean out the fridge. Also, if you don’t have sunflower seeds you can substitute cashews or pumpkin seeds in the crema. If you aren’t using an Instant Pot to cook your beans, you will need to add 2-3 hrs of bean cooking time in addition to an overnight soak. We don’t recommend using canned beans for this recipe since much of the flavor comes from how the beans are cooked.
Black beans and rice is a staple in many cuisines and we didn’t want to post this without talking briefly about cultural appropriation. Part of being raised and socialized white in the US is not being taught our rich ancestral traditions and ethnic origins. These were purposefully taken from us in the 1600s during the process of making us white and others non-white. Not having those rich historical traditions at our fingertips, and being settlers on a foreign land, it is easy to be hungry for traditions be they spiritual, musical, artistic, or food/recipes. For us, the food culture we grew up with was largely invented in the 1950s and revolved around meat. When we moved away from those food traditions, we felt like we were missing something. We had no cultural knowledge of how to cook vegetables deliciously or how to have a varied diet that fed all our body’s needs. It is here that we need to acknowledge that many of the foods and food preparations we learned were from cultures other than our own. Often ones that have been historically dominated by white people. How do we justify sharing these recipes that are neither all our own nor authentic to an originating culture? How do we know when we are appropriating and when we aren’t?
We don’t have the answers to these questions and we aren’t going to stop ourselves from living in hopes of not doing harm (harm is inevitable). What we offer is this: here is one of our recipes for a staple from a culture that isn’t ours. Cook with it, enjoy it, and if you feel harmed by us sharing it please let us know - we are ready and open to learning publicly. If you are interested about learning more on cultural appropriation check out one of our favorite articles or favorite podcast episode on the topic.
What’s Wrong with Cultural Appropriation? These 9 Answers Reveal Its Harm
Time: 1 hr with Instant Pot
Serves: 6
Ingredients
1 avocado
For the Beans:
1 1/3 cup dry black beans
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili
sprinkle of cayenne
squeeze of lime
For the Rice:
1 1/2 cup brown rice
3 cups of water (or stock)
1 tsp bouillon (gluten-free option; soy-free option)
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp minced cilantro
squeeze lime
For the Veggies:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 medium bell peppers (I like yellow and orange), thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, cut in half coins
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt, divided
squeeze of lime
For the Sauce:
2/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup water
1/2 bunch cilantro
juice of half a lime
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sriracha
Soak the sunflower seeds in a bowl of water.
Add the all bean ingredients to an Instant Pot. Cover the beans and seasonings with water (in the small Instant Pot this is about 6 cups of water). Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook for 19 minutes letting depressurize naturally. Drain and rinse the beans before adding to the dish. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, see bean cooking instructions at the bottom*.
While the beans are cooking, put rice and water in a small pot. Bring to a boil add bouillon and salt, stir to dissolve. Reduce to a simmer and simmer about 45 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat, stir in cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice.
While the rice is cooking, thinly slice the onions and bell peppers. Cut the zucchini into half coins. In a frying pan heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. When the oil is hot add onions and cook until starting to brown, about 7 minutes. Add the bell peppers and zucchini and fry. When veggies start to turn oily, after about 2 minutes add the remaining salt and cumin. Continue frying until golden brown, about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and add a squeeze of lime.
To make the sauce, drain the soaked sunflower seeds and add them with the other sauce ingredients to a high powered blender and blend until smooth. Taste and season accordingly.
Slice avocado and add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lime juice.
To assemble: layer rice, beans, veggies, and top with sliced avocado and a thick drizzle of sauce. Enjoy!
*To Cook Beans without an Instant Pot:
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can easily cook beans from scratch with a little planning. First you will need to soak the beans which can be done one of two ways. 1. you can soak them overnight making sure they have enough water and space to double in size or 2. you can put them in a pot and bring to boil, then turn off the water and let soak for one hour. Again, make sure you have enough water and space that they can double in size.
Once you have soaked your beans, rinse them and then put in a pot with salty water. These will be cooking for about 2 hours so you don’t want as much salt as you would use for pasta, but you do want to add enough that you can taste the salt. The best way to get good at this is to practice. Each time you salt the water, taste it and when the beans are done taste them to see if they are well salted. A well salted bean should taste flavorful but not salty. If it tastes like you are eating salt, you added too much. If the bean lacks flavor then you didn’t have enough salt. You should also add the other bean seasonings listed in this recipe.
