Black Beans and Rice

I must confess that I have a HUGE soft spot for legumes and rice, and the Mexican flair in this dish just really hits home. My parents ate this with freshly steamed basmati rice from my love, the rice cooker, and I had brown medium grain rice thawed and microwaved, in the true college-student fashion, no? Regardless, this meal takes a while to cook due to the dried beans, but let me tell you that it is mouthwateringly worthwhile! Instead of the standard Mexican red beans and rice, we had black beans seasoned with cayenne, celery, onions, garlic, etc. in a more Louisiana style. Usually it is loaded with poblano peppers, jalapenos (which were included in this particular rendition) and cumin, coriander, and dried ancho chilies. I missed the classical Mexican twist, but was rewarded with a mouthful of black beans and my favorite grain nonetheless. My dad really knows what he is about when it comes to this sort of lovely peasant dish.

We spooned the rice into shallow bowl/plate dishes and ladled the black bean concoction on top. I must confess that any beans cooked dried from the bag are so much better than anything canned, that there really is no comparison! The beans were partially immersion-blended to allow for a thicker, stickier consistency that I love in a sort of stick-to-your-ribs fashion, such as I eat my (Old Wessex 5-grain multigrain) oatmeal in the mornings : ). The beans held a bit of their firmness even after having been simmered in the pot for quite some time, and they lend such an earthiness to the whole meal. Legumes are basically a love affair of mine, and this dish is no exception, with the lip-tingling heat from the cayenne and the corn, lime, red pepper, and cilantro garnishes only heightening the experience to truly new levels. I couldn't resist the lime despite my dad's remarks that he strayed from the standard Mexican fashion of beans and rice for this particular dish....