Venezuelan Black Beans & Rice

Now what is a Venezuelan dish doing on the Average Arab Girl's page? Fun fact for you, my grandparents lived in Venezuela for 32 years. My mom was born there and she lived there for the first five years of her life until she moved to Syria. She learned Venezuelan recipes from my grandma, who learned them from her Venezuelan neighbors and friends!

So a lot of our cooking has been influenced by Venezuelan foods. My absolute favorite Venezuelan food my mom makes are arepas, but then come these Black Beans and Rice dish.

I've learned to perfect this dish overtime and it may sound like a lot of work, but it's just because the black beans and beef that have to cook for awhile. Do not be overwhelmed by the long recipe, you GOT this.

It is such a wholesome recipe to make for the week and did I mention it's cost-friendly? This recipe will make 10 portions, saving you time after coming home from a long day of work and money that you won't be spending on grabbing fast food after work as well.

Since it's made with black beans, you're also getting a great source of fiber in. You have protein from the beef stew and carbs from the rice. So, it's a delicious and balanced meal. Feel free to pair the recipe with some side veggies if you'd like more fiber.

All I will say is, be careful because you need to use a pressure cooker for this recipe. So, make sure you know how to use it! Let's get to it.

Yields: 10 people (incredible leftovers)

Portion size: 1 bowl

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

This recipe is dairy free and gluten free.

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Ingredients:

2 16oz bags of fresh black beans

3 cups of beef stew

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ green bell pepper, finely diced

1 small white onion, finely diced

3 tbsps of salt

3 cups of basmati rice

You will need a pressure cooker for this recipe

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Instructions:

1. Wash: wash the black beans and basmati rice. Set aside.

2. Add to pressure cooker: Add the beans and beef stew into pressure cooker and fill it up ½-⅔ of the way with cold water. Add 3-4 spoon fulls of salt. Seal the pressure cooker and allow the beans to cook for 1 hour on high heat.

3. Prep aromatics: Have the garlic, onion, and green bell pepper ready. Set aside.

4. Rice: Once there are 20 minutes left for the beans to finish, cook the rice in a separate pot.

5. Be careful: Make sure you properly open the pressure cooker depending on the instructions you have with your pot. I have to put mine under cold water for it to unlock.

6. Check on stew: Once the pot is open, stir well to ensure the beef stew has shredded - mash them against the pot walls while stirring. If you see that the beans need more water and are too dry, pour in less than 1 cup of boiling water. Allow it to cook on medium heat until you notice a thinner consistency for the black bean stew.

7. Cook aromatics: Shallow fry the bell pepper, garlic, and onions in olive oil. Let them fry until crispy and the onion turns light brown.

8. Add aromatics: Add aromatics to the pot and stir them in. Allow this to cook on medium heat for another 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Taste test for more salt. Add if necessary.

9. Now, you have black beans and beef stew with a side of basmati rice. Enjoy!

xoxo,

#averagearabgirl