After trying gallo pinto, a vegetarian black bean and rice dish, at a restaurant, I attempted to make it at home. The result was fairly good, but only when I added a fair amount of Tapatio hot sauce to the dish.
With some cooked black beans in my fridge recently, I tried to make gallo pinto again, but this time aimed for a version that would not suffer from a lack of condiments.
Although I tinkered with the recipe even further to add more flavor to both the rice and beans/sofrito mixture, the result was still fairly bland. Maybe it is was it is was, but I think gallo pinto has now been retired from my recipe repetoire.
(black bean and sofrito mixture)
Gallo Pinto v. 2
Ingredients:
- 1.25 cups dried black beans, cooked beforehand
- 1/3 cup reserved black bean cooking liquid or water
- 1 1/3 cup rice, cooked with one vegan boullion cube
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 small orange bell pepper, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- chili powder, to taste (optional)
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- salt and pepper
Directions:
- Heat olive oil in large heavy bottom pot on medium heat. When hot, add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent, reducing heat if garlic starts to brown.
- Add the bell pepper and bay leaf, and saute for another 4 – 5 minutes until bell pepper has cooked but remains firm.
- Add the beans, toss the ingredients together, and cook for another 7 – 10 minutes or at least until the beans have warmed through.
- Add the cooked rice to the pot, stirring to break up any cooked rice clumps. Add the reserved black bean cooking liquid or water, to make sure that the rice does not stick to the hot pot. Cook for another 10 minutes, sauteeing every few minutes or until everything is hot and the rice and beans are flavored with the sofrito mixture.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as chili powder, and serve warm with hot sauce or other sides.
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