Cuban Black Beans and Yellow Rice

My neighbor mentioned this dish once and I thought I wanted to try it, so I went to my trusted foodblogsearch.com and wound up taking parts from a couple of different recipes.

For the Cuban Black Beans, I had heard of making these in a crock pot so I definitely sought out a recipe that went that direction. I found this one and it couldn't have been easier or tastier: http://slow-cooker-collection.yumsugar.com/Slow-Cooker-Cuban-Black-Beans-Rice-530398

Cuban Black Beans and Rice
From Bettycrocker.com
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Makes about 6 servings.

1 pound dried black beans (2 cups), sorted and rinsed
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 large bell pepper, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 dried bay leaves
2 cups Progresso® diced tomatoes (from 28-oz can), undrained
5 cups water
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño chilies
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups hot cooked rice

1. Mix all ingredients except rice in 3 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on high heat setting 6 to 8 hours or until beans are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove bay leaves.
3. Cook the rice according to package directions.
4. Serve beans over rice.

For the Yellow Rice, I found this recipe when searching for the black bean recipe and took just the Yellow Rice part of the dish (and also it gave me the idea of serving this with guacamole): http://skinnybovineskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/08/recipe-of-week-cuban-black-beans-and.html

yellow rice
3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cinnamon
3 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons chicken bullion
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups long grain rice

In a medium saucepan, heat the turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon over low heat until fragrant, stirring, about 30 seconds. add the water, salt, and butter and bring to a boil. add the rice and stir well. Cover and reduce heat to a bare simmer. cook, covered, without stirring until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Verdict: definitely a keeper. We had a couple of slightly older neighborhood kids over and one loved the rice and both loved the beans. My boys weren't thrilled about the rice but loved the beans. J and I loved the rice and the beans. Such an easy and inexpensive dish to make. I put everything except for the water and tomatoes in the crock pot the night before and then added the water and tomatoes just before I turned on the crock pot. I don't think you can overcook which is nice if you need to turn your crock pot on earlier in the morning. For the Black Beans, I made the following changes: didn't add the jalapenos, used a whole 16 ounce can of chopped tomatoes rather than 2 cups from a 28-oz can, added only 3 garlic cloves and put them through the press rather than chopping them, and used a yellow pepper rather than a green one. Would probably do those same changes again just because it all turned out so good and so now I don't want to change it up.

Made plenty! We fed 2 adults and 4 kids and still had plenty of left over black beans (probably enough for a small dinner for 4 or a couple of lunches). There wasn't any yellow rice left-overs.