We hit on a winning combination the last time I served these black beans. Fresh corn masa for tortillas (thank you Nopalito!) wasn’t a bad start. The side of pork chile verde, yes, that was good. But the star of the evening, both for its beautiful dark green color and how surprisingly deliciously it paired with the spicy beans, was the kale that I just about burned to the bottom of the pan. (I tend to get distracted when I have people over for dinner.)
Soak some beans tonight and you can get these cooking tomorrow. (If you want to cook them now, you can Quick Soak your beans in about an hour. See details here for “Overnight Soak” and “Quick Soak”.)
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Amy’s Kitchen Coach Tips
- I never seem to have an exact pound of one kind of bean. The light ones in the photo above are some dried cranberry beans I had — probably about 1/2 cup worth. Go ahead and mix and match, just keep the majority black or you won’t have black beans anymore.
- These beans get better with a little time on them, so they are great to make in advance. Store in refrigerator for a few days.
- If you have a little fresh oregano, throw a few sprigs into the beans for cooking (and omit the dried oregano).
- Serve these beans with tortillas as a main dish or as a side to accompany chile verde, carnitas, or other grilled meat or seafood.
- These beans are fantastic served with cooked or raw dino kale.
