Congri

 INGREDIENTS 

3 slices thick-cut bacon (save the bacon fat!)

1/2 cup green bell pepper chopped

1 small onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 cup uncooked long-grain rice

15 ounces canned black beans*

1 1/2 cups water (if using dry black beans, see note below)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS 

In a Dutch oven, add bacon slices and fry until fully cooked and crispy. Do not discard the bacon fat. Transfer the bacon slices to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Roughly chop them and set aside.

In the same Dutch oven with the bacon fat, add green peppers and onions. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Add rice, black beans with the liquid from the can (if using dry black beans, see note below), water, cumin, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 40 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE LID. The steam is what cooks the rice.

After 40 minutes, remove from heat. Keep the lid on for another 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork then stir in the chopped bacon. Serve and enjoy!

NOTES

If you have the time, you could use dry beans using the following method.

Soak 6 ounces of dry black beans in a pot full of 3 cups of water overnight.

The next day, drain and then add 5 new cups of water to the pot.

Bring to a boil and cook them for 60 minutes, stirring frequently. Be careful not to let the beans dry out completely.

You can add 1 cup of water if they are absorbing the water too quickly. Keep an eye on them. You can remove a few beans from the pot and squish them with the back of a spoon to make sure they have softened.

After softening the beans for 60 minutes, transfer them to a bowl with 1 1/2 cups of its cooking liquid. Set aside.

Continue making the Moros in step 3 of the recipe following the ingredients exactly as they are stated in the Moros recipe using the softened black beans with their reserved liquid in place of the canned beans.