Black be
ans stew is a dish from my Brazilian heritage and very close to my heart. In the northeast of Brazil where I was born, we eat this dish served with rice, vegetables and meat every single day for lunch. The meat and vegetable side dishes vary from day to day according to what’s available and in season, but we serve bean stew and rice every single day.
Here in Australia, I cook this dish for dinner and I usually do not serve rice, as beans are a good source of both protein and carbs. But I serve it with stir fried cabbage, kale farofa (stir fried Kale with cassava flour added), okra, salad, and sometimes a lamb or beef casserole. I posted a picture of an example of how I serve black beans. This stew freezes well, so you can double the recipe and freeze half of it for another time, or freeze leftovers.
Black beans offer a very affordable source of protein, essential vitamins and minerals. It is an amazing high fibre and low GI food which helps to maintain stable blood glucose and normal insulin levels, and lower inflammation by improving excretion of toxins and waste from the body. The combination of antioxidant flavonoids and fibre in black beans have shown to lower oxidative stress and inflammation associated with metabolic syndrome, and protect against cardiovascular disease and Diabetes when added to Western-style meals (Reverri et al. 2015).
Reference:
Reverri, E, Randolph, J, Steinberg, F, Kappagoda, C, Edirisinghe, I & Burton-Freeman, B 2015, ‘Black Beans, Fiber, and Antioxidant Capacity Pilot Study: Examination of Whole Foods vs. Functional Components on Postprandial Metabolic, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation in Adults with Metabolic Syndrome’, Nutrients, vol. 7, pp. 6139-6154, https://tinyurl.com/yb4jwlua
Black bean stew
Equipment
- Heavy-based saucepan or pressure cooker
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- 1 cup dried black beans soaked over 6 hours*
- 500 ml water stock may be used
- 1 large onion diced
- Half a red or yellow capsicum diced
- 2 large cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2-3 bay leaves
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a large saucepan and bring to medium heat.
- Add crushed garlic, diced onions and capsicum, cumin, black pepper, bay leaves and cook them for a minute until onion is translucent.
- Add water or stock let the stew simmer on low to medium heat for an hour with a lid ajar. Add more water if needed. If you are using a pressure cooker, cook on low heat for half an hour.;Season with salt and let simmer for an extra 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened, if needed.
- Use a ladle to macerate the beans partially before serving helps to thicken the sauce.
- Serve with rice, casseroles, steamed or sauteed vegetables.
