Velvety Black Beans a la Instant Pot

Love that InstantPot!  Not only does it save time, it gives us the privilege of deciding what we want to eat at the last minute – so to speak.

This meal was a slam dunk.

I put a cup and a half of washed, but unsoaked, beans, about four cups of water, some sliced red/yellow/green peppers, and seasonings into the InstantPot a couple of hours before dinner and just let it go its own merry way.  When the hour was up, I let it self release its steam, and then mashed them up into their own juice, corrected the seasonings, and set the pot to wrangle those beans for another ten minutes.

Then it was time to think about what else we might want to have.

Our leftover selection consisted of one serving of eggplant Parmagiano, one serving of BBQ chicken, and a good-sized bucket of vegetables, starring our favorite Mexican Grey Squash, left over from the previous night’s stir fry over that same yellow rice.

I re-heated the yellow rice in an eight-inch skillet by putting a bit of water in the pan, bringing it to a boil and then letting the pan get good and hot.  Adding the rice, spritzing the top with more water from my spray bottle, I turned the heat to as low as possible, and let it reheat for about five minutes, turning the burner off at about two minutes in.

In a ten-inch skillet, I did the same water trick, and that’s how the rest of the food (apart from the beans) was reheated – they all just sat in their respective areas.  The beans were perfect served directly from the InstantPot, with about five cups left over – divided between the refrigerator and the freezer.

For toppings, we had sliced scallions, chunky tomato salsa, and shredded Monterey Jack cheese.  There was also some sour cream involved, but that was added after the photo session.

We have a new Penzey’s spice called Salsa and Pico.  The ingredients list says:

Shallots, cumin, garlic, black pepper, Mexican oregano, paprika, cilantro, jalapeño pepper, chipotle pepper.

It was just the right mixture to make those beans sing The Mexican Hat Dance.

 

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