Brazilian Black Beans

Yet another recipe from the Everyday Food by Martha Stewart's April 2009 issue. The idea behind this meal is that you can save a lot of money by using dried beans. Let's see how this goes...

3 medium beets, scrubbed and trimmed
1 pound dried black beans, rinsed
salt & pepper
2 garlic cloves (mine were small, I used 3)
2 T vegetable oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced, divided
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, plus some sprigs for garnish
cooked rice (I used brown rice.)
lime wedges
shredded cheddar (who needs to measure cheese?)

1. In a 6-quart Dutch oven combine beets, beans and enough water to cover; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until beets are tender, 45 minutes -1 hour (add more water as necessary). **At this time, I was super good and went for a jog!**

2. Transfer beets to a bowl; when cool enough to handle, peel and dice. Continue to cook beans until tender, about another hour more. (A good indicator is when the water is gone!)

3. Finely chop garlic and sprinkle with salt. (The magazine has you make a paste, but this is a real pain in the behind. I just use a garlic press and call it good.) In a small skillet, heat oil over medium; add garlic, 1/2 the scallions and cilantro. Cook, stirring frequently, until scallion has softened, 2-4 minutes.


4. Stir scallion mixture into beans; cook over medium until flavors have blended, about five minutes. Serve beans and beets over rice, topped with scallion and cheddar, with lime wedge alongside.

In all honesty, this was a huge bummer. I felt like I could have spent the same amount of money, a lot less time and had the same results if I had used canned beans and beets. Sure, the textures of from-scratch are more authentic. The other downfall is that my hands were so stained it took the chlorine from the pool to remove the beet residue. Was it that awesome of a meal? No way. It sure does look nice though, doesn't it?