Puerto Rican Beans

It's a cold and nasty day in Chicago.  A perfect day to have a big pot of something on the stove...


From a recipe for "Sunday Beans" in the NYT mag that started with slab bacon, I veggie-ized this with the good counsel of Alex, the most awesome Puerto Greekanish cook you could ever meet, and the results garnered this compliment: "You would make any Puerto Rican abuela proud!" They are that delish.


The original recipe called for canned beans, but I subsequently made with dried beans with great results.

2 T olive oil
1 T annato seeds
1 med onion, peeled and diced
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 med red pepper, seeded and diced
2 large carrots, scrubbed and diced
2 T ground cumin
1 T ground coriander
juice of one large orange, plus enough pineapple juice to equal 1.5 cups total juice
2 T tomato paste
2 14-oz cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 14-oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
optional: dash of liquid smoke for bacon-ness without the bacon
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large pot. Sautee the annato seeds until the oil turns a deep red. Remove the seeds and add the vegetables. Cook until they have softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander and stir for about 2 minutes. Add the juice and tomato paste. Raise the heat until it reaches a simmer then lower the heat and reduce the liquid to 1/2 its volume. Add the beans, liquid smoke (if desired) and enough water to simmer, if necessary. Simmer for at LEAST 30 minutes, preferably for a couple of hours. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with rice.

Terrible picture but those are the beans at 9 o'clock.