Two Black Bean Dishes..."kill two birds with one stone"

 

I'm so sorry to disappoint all of you with my simple dishes and not making ooey-gooey cupcakes, cakes, and super rich dishes, so I decided at least the things that I do make are healthy, and delicious...that is if you like black beans!
The one thing, or maybe two things you might have noticed since I started my Weight Watchers diet program, is that I'm concentrating more on making things look attractive, and improve on my photos, as well!

Remember that huge container of black beans? well, I made another big pot of black beans from dried black beans.
This first one is a delicious CUBAN BLACK BEANS, and the second one coming up, is my BLACK BEANS PAPAYA SALSA...I decided to "kill two birds with one stone"...I'm sure you've heard the meaning before!

Not my own photo...courtesy of National Geography

Realistically speaking...who would want to kill these beautiful Rainbow bee-eaters? The term killing two birds with one stone is "performing two tasks at the same time" has been mentioned that it originated from the Japanese, the Chinese, the Romans, and from a Greek Mythology! Well, they all can call it their own, but this famous Idiom Definition is referred by Hobbes, in 1841, in England. According to Hobbes, it was to "satisfy two arguments with one answer." It is almost impossible to kill two birds with one stone, unless they are sitting close together as these lovely birds!

My second bean dish is BLACK BEAN PAPAYA SALSA...a very nice, refreshing salsa that is perfect as a side dish with BBQ or just have around as a great snack to satisfy the in-between meals hunger!

Love this refreshing salsa, and so easy to make. I will post both recipes for you, and for the next post I will try to keep it on the sweet side by making a yummy dessert of some sorts!

Cuban Black Beans
adapted slightly from: Everyday Food from the
Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion diced
2 celery stalks diced
2 garlic cloves smashed, and peeled
2 carrots, diced  
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cumin
coarse salt, and ground black pepper
2 lbs dried black beans, soaked according
to package instructions
1 dried bay leaf
1 small bunch cilantro, stems and leaves separated, stems tied together with kitchen twine and leaves reserved

In a large Dutch oven, or a large heavy pot, heat oil over medium. Add onion, celery, and garlic, and cook until onion is softened, about 6 minutes. Add carrots and cumin, and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Add black beans, 8 cups water, bay leaf and cilantro stems and bring to a boil over high. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender and liquid is slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf and cilantro stems. (To store, refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to 6 months. You will be able to use these beans to make other recipes with it. Makes 7 cups
Points value: 6

Black Bean Papaya Salsa
adapted by: All Recipes.com

2 cups cooked, or canned black beans
2 small, or 1 large papayas peeled seeded
 and diced small
1/2 red bell pepper diced small
3/4 cup pineapple juice
 ( I used 7 1/2 oz can crushed pineapple)
!/2 cup lime juice (4 limes)
(I used 2 limes)
2 Tbsp minced green chile peppers of your choice
( I also used 1/2 of a medium purple onion, diced)

Dice the papaya in small pieces

If your onion is large, just cut in half, wrap the other half and save for next time. Peel and dice in small pieces.

I used green chiles, sliced them with the seeds. You can slice in half, scrape the seeds out, and dice them if you don't want it too spicy.

Clean and slice half of the red bell pepper in thin long slice, and dice the pepper in small pieces.

 Rinse the black bean in cold running water, in a colander.

Chop a handful of fresh cilantro.

Layer all your ingredient in a big bowl. I also used about 2 teaspoon of jalapeno sauce...you can use red hot sauce if you can't get jalapeno sauce.

With a fork squeeze the lime into the bowl and just turn the fork well with one hand and squeeze with the other to get all the juices in there.

Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro, and stir together gently, and serve...Enjoy!
Points value: 6