Thanks to my friend Mel for sharing their family’s black bean recipe! Their mom, Ligda, is Venezuelan, and both Mel and Ligda grew up eating these beans!
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soak black beans overnight.
add beans and fresh water to a pot on low heat, or a slow cooker.
in a blender, add one green bell pepper, a half of an onion, a few cloves of garlic, a bunch of cilantro, and a bunch of parsley.
(note: I added a dried chili, too.)
when blended, add to beans, with salt and pepper.
the longer it simmers, the better. like a black bean soup when first cooked, but beans freeze well to be eaten later with cilantro rice.
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thanks so much to mel for sharing their venezuelan mom ligda’s black bean recipe! <3
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update January 2020: What a big flavor for such a simple recipe! If you like the flavor of stewed cilantro and parsley, you'll love this! I usually eat parsley and cilantro raw. This reminded me of my grandmother's German recipes with the stewed parsley flavor, but MUCH better, thanks to the onion and garlic. This would be a perfect way to sneak some green veggies into your kids' diets, since the beans come out a creamy blackish-purple – no hint of green. I think I still prefer my go-to black beans recipe (which I just realized I've never posted! Stay tuned for that one!) with cinnamon, oregano, and cumin. However, if you have a little extra money to spend on parsley and cilantro – or if your garden is kickin' – go ahead and give this a try! Definitely recommended!
My one note is: Mel said the leftover beans freeze well, but let's be honest. There's no way you'll have any left over, since the way they thicken up just makes them better and better every time you reheat them. If you're making these over a long winter weekend like I did, you won't even have any left to eat over the week, much left anything left to freeze. I easily ate bowl after bowl of this over the weekend with hot sauce and plain yogurt!
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fried sig 