Cuban Black Beans and Brown Rice

*For some reason, I'm unable to upload pictures from my computer, the browse box isn't coming up. I will add the images when I can figure out what's wrong. In the meantime, all of these recipes, along with the corresponding photo, are being posted to my Beachbody coach "like" page: www.facebook.com/bondgrlfit. I apologize for any inconvenience.*

Once upon a time, I worked at a Latin restaurant, and we served Cuban black beans with rice, and served the same beans with the liquid as a soup drizzled with lime juice and sour cream. It was sooo good, I ate it every evening before my shift! With rice, this is a complete protein, and is full of protein and fiber, so really filling! You can do the same thing we did at the restaurant, scoop the beans out with a slotted spoon and serve it over rice like I did this evening, or ladel it out and serve as a soup! If you aren't vegan, I love to add a small dollop (About 1/2 a tablespoon) of low fat sour cream (Don't buy fat free, they pack that version full of chemicals and stabilizers to give it flavor and texture. I'll take a little fat), lime juice, cilantro, and diced tomato! This makes a TON of beans, roughly 8 cups! I reserved 4 cups of the beans to use later this week for black bean burgers, and divided the remaining beans into one cup servings!

Here is how I made it:
Olive oil cooking spray
1 yellow onion, diced medium
2 celery stalks, diced medium
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
26 oz bag black bean soup mix, seasoning packet discarded or saved for later use, soaked overnight
1 dried bay leaf
1 small bunch cilantro, stems and leaves seperated, stems tied with kitchen twine
3/4 cup brown rice
1 roma tomato
1 lime cut into wedges
sour cream

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, saute onion, celery, and garlic and cook until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and cumin and saute until fragrant, about a minute.

Add black beans, 8 cups of water, bay leaf, and cilantro stems, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to a simmer, tilt lid, and cook until beans are tender and liquid is slightly reduced, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (I like mine still a bit firm, so I stay with 1 1/2 hours, if you like soft beans, aim for 2). Taste for seatoning and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Remove bay leaf and cilantro stems.

Meanwhile, cook rice with 2 cups water, bring to a boil and reduce until tender, 30-45 minutes.

Serve beans over rice, or omit rice and serve as a soup! If you'd like, serve topped with tomato, cilantro leaves, sour cream, and lime wedges to squeeze over top!