gonna have mexican fare this week-end. have a can of black beans ....... just heat and serve or does anyone add anything to the beans to make them a better side dish ?
ideas on what you folks do welcome

Mix rinsed black beans with diced tomatoes, corn, onion, diced jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, a little cumin and some kosher salt. Serve chilled. Mmmmmmmm!
You can cheat and use Rotel and canned corn, but this time of year you'd be crazy not to use fresh from the garden or farm stand.

__________________
"I also cook."

same here, but without the cumin..

__________________
is it just me?

Throw can away. (or shoot)

Buy dry beans.

Soak over night (or use quick boil and sit for 1 hr method)

Cook beans until soft.

Add stuff SW Chad Mentioned.(we don't use corn or tomatoes) but what ever you like.

(If you add salt do so after beans are soft as it will stop the softening process.)

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Most definitely rinse the beans first, or else things could be unpleasant later! I like to mix in lime juice, cumin, and various salsa-like ingredients (whatever's around). Putting all of that into melted jack cheese makes a good bean burrito filling, too.

Mix the cooked beans with what ever you like and put them on eggs in a tortilla as a great breakfast. I did this a couple of weeks ago and my wife and kids loved it. It's best if you mash up about half of the beans first

Beans you cook are better than canned for sure. If you insist on using canned make sure you rinse them well. That sticky **** they put into canned beans not fit for man nor beast.
I like a lot of cumin.

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

Tried it - !!! HORRIBLE !!!
And I sure hope the shells digest

Maybe if you mashed the beans AND cooked the eggs - Just sayin'
OTOH - What do I know about Mexican food????

__________________
In dog years I'm dead.

the first 2 ideas are good for me ..... just like the 2nd poster , all the stuff without the cumin should do fine
i dont need too much as a main dish , this would be a side dish to our steak fajita's . we will have mixed peppers & onions cooked in a cast iron wok with seasoned roast i have been marinating for 2 days , along with fresh bi- colored corn on the cobb
the beans should compliment every thing else very nicely ...!

A good supply of TUMS!

__________________
Made in the U.S.A.

Don't forget the guacamole and the sour cream and the beer... and maybe some Margareta's for the ladies.

What time do we eat?

__________________
"I also cook."

Just mash 'em and heat with some cheese. It's just for a side, and maybe something to throw on a fajita. I prefer my black beens as a side to cheese enchilladas. They mix in with the cheese and form the best slop. Tex-Mex is all about the slop.

__________________
Hold on. SWAT's at my door.

Gee, I just heat them from the can and they seem fine. I'm lazy and busy. Bush's is a good brand, or Ranch Style. The latter brand is better known for its pinto beans in a "ranch" sauce.

In Mexican restaurants, I sometimss put them on tortilla chips or roll them and rice in a soft tortilla.

Look in the latin food section of your grocery, get a jar of Goya Sofrito and add 2-3 tablespoons of it when you heat up the beans. If they don't have that try same amount of Salsa, the hot variety is best. You can also add browned sausage or bacon
Steve W I could live on rice and beans

Those little packs of Goya Sazon (Con Azafran) are great. We use them for the beans and or regular white rice to make yellow rice. The rice is much better than the packages of yellow rice mix if you use Uncle Bens Converted.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Oh yeah....
How to make Frijoles Negros (Black Beans and Rice) Easy Cuban and Spanish Recipes

Hey those "guys" copied what I said!

I love BB and Rice, Red Beans and Rice, Small White beans, Pasta Figioli. Even like baked beans now that I weened Mrs Rule of canned ******* and make homemade.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Take your beans, rinse, drain, and add a LITTLE chicken stock, sauteed garlic and onion, cumin and red-pepper flakes. Heat thoroughly, season to taste.

Here's an old Californio Rancho trick. Ladle your beans onto your plate and top with some GOOD pico-de-gallo type salsa. Home-made is the best and simplest. The hot beans and cold salsa is a mind-blowing traet!

Salsa: Dice fresh, ripe tomatoes (6-8), add a yellow onion (but green onions are better), diced about the same size, 1/2 spoon fresh garlic (jar OK-powder if you must!), a little cumin, 2-4 jalapenos or serranos (seeded and de-veined), diced finely, 1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro, salt & pepper, juice from one juicy lime (1/2 cup, maybe). If you have it, crush some coriander seed and add. Make it look good, use a mix of different colored tomatoes.

Forget Black beans!
I grew up in a Tex-Mex home, and can tell you they are some Santa Fe tree huggers answer on how to ruin a good recipe.
You want real Mexican?
Get Pinto beans and cook them in a Olla (earthenware pot).
ETA:
Besides, how are you going to make a good batch of refries out of Black beans?
That's just nasty!

__________________
Hold my beer and watch this!

Yes Pinto's would be more Mexican. Black Bean more Cuban.

I like them all.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

That's Tex-Mex all right!

Found away from the border (fairly far south=Oaxacan), here's one of my favorites. Drain your beans. Mash 1/2 -3/4 of them. Add enough chicken stock to make a thick soup. Add cumin and coriander, sauteed onion and garlic (saute in bacon fat, if you got it). Serve topped with a few sliced green onions, fresh cilantro and a good hard white cheese (jack, if that's all you got). Season yourself at the table with fresh line.

Warning: This does NOT lend itself to margaritas. A good yellow tequila but that will show you're a gringo You really should have a good mezcal with lime and a salt mix of sea salt, dried chilies and dried gusano.

Yeah, Southern Mexico takes more of it's recipes from the Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine.
The Mexican most associate with is the peasant food of the Northern states.
Simple, filling, and just plain awesome.

__________________
Hold my beer and watch this!

Keep it simple. Bacon-garlic-onion-chili powder. (maybe a little dried Cilantro.)

Be advised that if anyone eating these beans has asthma, ingesting any jalapeno or other hot peppers may induce a severe attack. These peppers may be in some cans of the beans and are in most hot salsas.

I only know this because I almost needed an ambulance from learning that, and might well have died had I not used my rescue inhaler.

Be sure that none of your family or guests at a Mexican meal has asthma, and if they do, they'd better not eat anything flavored too hot.

I lived in Tampa for 6 yrs and did the dried bean thing but after moving away, found the Goya black beans to be as good or better than those served in some of the better places in TPA and definitely better than mine.

Be forewarned.. Black beans convert to 14.7 times their volume in noxious vapors 8-12 hours after ingestion. Be sure you are in a well ventilated area during that time!!

Roast Pork, Black beans, yellow rice and fried Plantains.. It doesn't get any better than that!!

I also buy canned beans. I like the recipes. Since I'm an old fart I gotta watch salt and carbs. Goya has line of low sodium beans, black, white, pinto, red, pink. I brown rice instead of white. Enough salsa and hot sauce and you can't tell the diff..

Don't forget the ear plugs and air freshener!

I start with dried beans... worth the trouble!

Stainz