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Slow Cooker Black Beans w/ Bananas & Thai Chilis, Esmérelda

Slow Cooker Black Beans w/ Bananas & Thai Chilis

Bananas and black beans might sound like an odd combination at first. They may even be an odd combination. But the bananas give a fun creaminess to the dish. It almost looks and tastes like a vegan chocolate. Which is not exactly what I thought about going into making this, but I wouldn't turn it down, either! It's really been a delight to mix and match with other dishes. And likely going to start a trend of seeing how far I can push the boundaries with black beans.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine American, Latin American, Mexican
Servings 4 cups

Equipment

  • Crock Pot

Ingredients
  

  • 6 bananas ripe
  • 1/2 yellow onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 Thai chilis minced
  • dash cinnamon
  • dash coriander
  • dash cumin
  • dash salt
  • dash pepper
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 ½ lbs. black beans ~3 cups
  • 4 ½ c. water

Instructions
 

  • Add all of the ingredients to a crock pot.
  • Cook on low for 8 hours, or until the desired consistency is reached. I like to start the beans in the morning and then come back to then after work or before bed to wake up to freshly cooked beans.
    The beans should retain their shape during the cooking process (and not start to break apart), but should be soft enough to pinch between your fingers or a fork. It's much like the consistency of a baked potato, where you could theoretically turn it into mashed potatoes, but it also stands on its own.
    There may still be some residual water left in the crock pot after 8 hours. If the beans aren't fully cooked, simply continue to cook until the water cooks in and the beans are the right tenderness. If the beans are fully cooked, you can drain the water or quickly simmer the remainder of it out on the stove. Depending on how old your beans are, they may require slightly different amounts of water to re-hydrate. Older beans will take more water and time, while fresher beans will cook in less time with less water.
  • If you want to make no-fry refried beans or more of a bean dip, mash with a potato masher. You can also pulse in a food processor or purée entirely.
    This process might require more water. So, if you do have additional water left in the crock pot after cooking, you may want to reserve it and add back in if necessary to create a smoother no-fry refried bean consistency.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

  • I also have an entire article on The Fundamentals of Slow Cooker Black Beans. Which has additional tips and tricks along with the rationale for not pre-soaking or rinsing beans and bean substitutions if you want to cook with pinto or other bean varieties.