Lately I've been trying to chill on my meat consumption, but its so hard to find good vegetarian options.  My husband actually started making black beans at the start of the week, and I've been loving them.  They can be a bit time consuming to make, so I typically make them on a day that I'm working from home (silver lining).

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of dry black beans
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

• First step is to soak the beans overnight (24 hours), so you'll need to plan ahead.
• Pour beans into a large bowl and cover with water until beans are submerged.  You want about an inch of water above the beans.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put into the fridge.
• After they have soaked overnight, the next step is to rinse the beans.  Pour a little at a time into a strainer over the sink and rinse with tap water.
• From there they go straight into the pot that you will be cooking them in.
• Add enough water to where the beans are barely covered and add your garlic.
• Turn the stove on to a medium/high heat until they come to a boil.
• Once they have reached boiling, stir them gently and turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid.
• Make sure you check on them about every 20-30 minutes and give them a stir to avoid sticking, and make sure the heat isn't too high.
• If the water has evaporated so much that the beans are not completely covered, feel free to add more water.
• After they have been cooking for 1 hour, you'll want to add the spices.
• Add the paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt & pepper, stir, and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

That's it folks!  Super easy and delicious.  I like to serve them with brown rice, topped with green onions, cheese, tomatoes, avocado & tortilla chips, or have them as a taco.  Its such an easy lunch or dinner to throw together.  Now if only I could get the boys to try them...

Emily XX