Black Beans

Ingredients

2 cups dry black beans (rinsed)	5 cups water
1 t salt	2 bay leaves
2 cups onion, chopped (1 large)	1 cup green pepper, chopped (1 large)
3 cloves garlic, minced	1 T cumin
1 t oregano	1/4 t pepper
2 T dry sherry (or Saki)	1 T brown sugar
1/2 t Tabasco sauce	1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil (optional)

1/4 cup lemon juice

6 T cilantro, chopped

Directions

Stove: Soak beans for several hours. Drain. Combine beans, water, salt and bay leaves. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro and lemon juice and simmer about 1 hour more. Add lemon juice and cilantro just before serving.

Crock pot: Combine all ingredients except cilantro and lemon juice in crock pot and refrigerate overnight. Crock on "auto cook" all day (about 10 hours). Remove bay leaves and add lemon juice and cilantro just before serving.

Serve over brown rice with a bit of red salsa.

Notes

This recipe is from Sonja and William Connor's The New American Diet System (page 286).

"Auto cook" is a crock pot setting that is two hours on high, then the rest on low.

Excellent (with just a bit of salsa).