Recipe: Fried Black Beans

Hello again! 

Two posts in two days; craziness. Yesterday I promised you a recipe, and here it is. This is very simple and is loosely based on this Simple Recipes entry. Refried beans are very difficult to photograph - they're not a very pretty food item. However, I can assure you that these taste delicious. If I were doing it over again, I would chop my onions much smaller than what you see in the pictures. You'll have a smoother texture that way. Enjoy!

A note on the title: "refried" beans are really only fried once, ever; they're not really "re-fried". So I've titled this without the "re-".

Fried Black Beans 

Ingredients:

• 1 large can black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 scant tsp cinnamon 
• 1 tsp oregano 
• 1.5 T lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Directions:

Place the oil, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon in a skillet and heat until the spices start bubbling. Add the onion and cook until soft, 3-5 minutes, then add the garlic and stir for a minute before adding the black beans. Fry for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The beans will start to split and break apart. Mash with the back of your stirring utensil, or break out the potato masher, until the beans are a consistency you like. Add water if it looks too dry (I added maybe 1/4 cup). Remove the beans from the pan and add the lime juice, oregano, and salt.

NB: Fresh herbs could be used in place of the oregano. Cilantro or parsley would be natural fits, and I'm sure other herbs could be used as well. Experiment and make it your own!