A mouthwatering bowl of black beans served with chimichurri sauce, pickled onion, cotija cheese (optional), and chopped pistachios. A hearty and healthy vegetarian entree.
The cook time and instructions include cooking dried beans from scratch. You can shorten the total time by using canned beans, making this a very quick meal.
"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
In a large bowl, dissolve the salt in the water.
Add the beans and let soak for 4 hours.
Transfer the sliced onion into a small plastic or glass container.
Cover the onion with olive brine.
Place in the refrigerator until ready to use at least 4 hours.
Before topping the beans with the pickled onion, separate the onion slices into strips.
Add 6 cups water to the beans along with the black pepper and red chile spice blend.
Taste. Add salt if needed.
Shelled and coarsely chopped pistachios
For each serving, place a couple of ladles of beans in a bowl. Top with few strips of pickled onion.
Top each serving with 1 Tbsp. chimichurri, then a little cheese and chopped pistachios.*
Black Beans - The best beans are made from scratch. The process in the recipe is a stovetop method which takes about an hour. You could shorten the time by about 30 minutes by using the pressure cooker. To shorten it even more and eliminate the time to brine, use canned beans. Two cans should yield 2 - 3 servings. If you use canned beans, add the pepper and red chile spice blend then heat in a pot. Do not drain or add salt.
Red Chile Spice Blend - If you don't have any, you could make a batch in about 5 minutes. Or, just use a couple of different chile powders and a touch of garlic powder.
Toppings - You don’t need much of each topping. You want the toppings to complement the beans, not overpower them.
Pistachios - If you don't have pistachios, substitute sweet and spicy pepitas or toasted pinon (pine nuts).
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen