WHY BLACK BEANS?

My obsession with black beans all began with my Cuban nanny who had me living off black beans with rice and cafe con leche ...then it took off in my college years when the fastest and most cost efficient meals I could cook had black beans as part of it.

My approach to cooking has been influenced by my experience of watching my mother cook over the years by throwing together everything she could find in the pantry and fridge to make a yummy Mexican-style meal. My own experimental black bean dishes were born from one of my favorite dishes that my mom made as a child. Chilaquiles verde... Yum! I have taken this delicious dish and morphed into may incarnations of a chilaquiles with black beans. My friends and I have spent many of mornings curled up on the living room floor after enjoying one of these hardy meals.

I will try to remember and share with you some of the basic recipes, which are not only original but fun...some of them not very good looking, but never fail to entertain and feed my creativity and love for unique food.

Please feel free to copy them and pass them around. I will love to hear from you and learn some of your black bean recipes too.

For now, I want to share with you some basic tips about cooking black beans.

BLACK BEANS HISTORY

FRIJOLES NEGROS CUBANOS