A brewing, bubbling pot. A heavy dose of deep dark spices. And the blackest beans on the market. 

It’s meatless Black Magic Chili. And those dark spices include chili powder, cumin, oregano and espresso, which give the dish a rich, mole-like quality. Honey, smoked paprika and cinnamon lend extra layers of unexpected flavor, as well. 

I made a double batch of the recipe below (originally from epicurious.com), which produced a prodigious 16 servings. William and I happily scarfed the first four, and my coworkers took down another three. The rest of the chili is in the freezer, waiting to work its magic on a busy weeknight when we’ll need it most. 

This is no ordinary vegetarian/vegan chili. The complex seasonings more than compensate for the absent meat. And fresh veggie toppings (avocado, red pepper, cilantro and red onion) are bright jewels that provide contrast and texture to the final product. I do, however, recommend leaving off dairy toppings like cheese and sour cream, which masked the chili’s best flavor attributes. 

Black Magic Chili 
1 recipe Addie’s Cuban Black Beans with cooking liquid (or 7 cups canned beans)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 large onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin 
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder or 2 shots espresso
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 tablespoons honey 
1 1/2 teaspoons course sea salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Optional toppings: diced onion, minced jalapeno or red pepper, cubed avocado, chopped cilantro

Instructions
Prepare Addie’s Cuban Black Beans (can be made a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator).

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook for 8 minutes, until tender. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant—about 1 minute. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and powdered espresso, if using. (If you use liquid espresso, add along with crushed tomatoes). Cook onion-spice mixture for 2 minutes, stirring. Pour in tomatoes and honey, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes. 

Add black beans, salt, smoked paprika, and cinnamon to the pot. If mixture is to thick, add water 1/4 cup at a time. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Pour soup into bowls, and top with vegetable garnishes. 

Serves 6 to 8

I crave easy, somewhat unhealthy dinners on Fridays. So last night I piled a mix of Latin ingredients atop freshly fried corn tortillas for a mean plate of nachos.

Instead of salsa, I used homemade guacamole (avocado, lime, cilantro, shallot, mayo and salt). And rather than gooey melted cheese, I used a sprinkle of fresh goat cheese that has a similar texture as queso fresco. Leftover back beans and cooked corn kernels gave extra flavor and necessary fiber. 

These were so much better than the bottled salsa and cheddar versions I’ve made in the past and probably healthier, too. What a humble, sloppy, perfect Friday meal. 

With leftover poached chicken thighs in my freezer, I hoped to make an easy Friday night meal of chicken and yellow rice (arroz con pollo en Miami). My childhood version involved a package of Mahatma saffron rice, which I was more than happy to rely on. 

But with closer product scrutiny, I discovered that Mahatma’s vivid flavor relies on MSG. And it wasn’t just Mathatma. EVERY package of saffron rice at Publix contained the chemical. 

I didn’t want to voluntarily sign us up for a dose of MSG, so I decided to make a homemade version instead. 

To make the rice a sunny yellow, I used turmeric and saffron (traditional recipes call for annatto oil). Fresh vegetables (onion, peppers and garlic) replaced freeze-dried veggies in the packaged mix.

I served black beans and fresh field peas on the side. Normally I’d opt for frozen green peas, but the peas (from William’s Granddad, thanks!) were a special summer treat. 

Thanks for the memories Mahatma. But we’re moving on to real (delicious) chicken and yellow rice from now on. 

Chicken and Yellow Rice
For chicken:
1 pound bone-in chicken thighs (or white meat if you prefer)
Aromatics (1/2 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 bay leaf, herbs … whatever you have on hand)
2 teaspoons kosher salt 
Black pepper

For rice:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion 
1/2 diced red bell pepper
1 jalapeno, sliced into thin rounds (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
3 cups chicken broth or water
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon butter, optional 
6 lemon wedges
1/3 cup chopped cilantro 

Instructions
Place chicken in a medium-sized stock pot and cover with cool water, about 3 1/2 cups. Add aromatics to the water. Heat water to a boil, add salt and several grinds of pepper, and reduce heat to a simmer. If foam forms on the top of the pot, remove. Cook chicken for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tender.

Remove chicken from the pot, cool, and coarsely chop. Pour liquid through a fine mesh strainer and reserve. 

For the rice, heat olive oil in a medium-size pot. Add onion, red pepper, garlic, and jalapeno (if using), cooking until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in turmeric and saffron, and cook 1 minute more. Add rice to the pot, stirring for 1 to 2 minutes to infuse the flavor of the spices into the grains. Pour in reserved chicken broth, adding water if necessary to make 3 cups. Bring liquid to a boil, add chicken to the pot, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. 

Cook rice for 20 to 25 minutes, until the grains have absorbed all of the liquid. If desired, add butter. Fluff rice with a fork, and serve with lemon wedges and cilantro. 

Serves 6

I made my first black bean-mango salsa pizza this fall while volunteering at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s Ramble festival. My boss Gretchen mans the pizza booth each year and concocts a number of gourmet pies.

With leftover black beans on hand and mango season just starting here in Miami, I decided to try the pie at home. I consulted with Gretchen on the salsa recipe for which she recommended ginger and lots of jalapeno. She also suggested veering from a traditional dough and trying a cornmeal-based flatbread or crust to accent the pizza’s Latin flavors. 

With some online research, I found Emeril’s cornmeal pizza dough, which was simple and made enough for two pies. It crisped nicely atop my pizza stone, but needed more flavor. Maybe another pinch of salt would have helped. 

I went ahead and made two pizzas and froze the second for a quick weeknight meal. So double the recipe below (but not the salsa recipe; it makes plenty) for a double-duty dinner. 

Black Bean-Mango Salsa Pizza
1 recipe pizza dough
1 cup cooked black beans in liquid
1 cup mango salsa (recipe below)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions
Prepare pizza dough. As it rises, make mango salsa. Puree half of black beans in a blender or with a hand blender. 

Preheat oven to 450° with pizza stone inside, if using. Once dough is ready, stretch it to form a 10-inch circle. Remove pizza stone from oven and place the stretched dough on its surface. Spread black beans evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch crust border. Top with mango salsa and cheeses. Brush olive oil over crust.

Bake pie for 15 minutes until golden. Remove from oven. Let it rest for 5 minutes; slice into wedges and serve.

Serves 3 to 4

Mango Salsa
2 medium mangoes, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
1/4 cup diced onion
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 teaspoons ginger, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions
Combine all ingredients. Add extra lime or salt as needed.  

Makes 2+ cups

Addie and me, before I moved on to solid foods

My great-grandmother Addie lived on a South Florida sugar cane farm and passed along, among other recipes, a Cuban friend’s formula for black beans. I hadn’t made or eaten these beans in years until I prepared a pot a week ago while visiting Cristen, Graham and Camille in Birmingham.

I don’t think I’ll go back to canned. 

Since I wanted this batch on a weekday, I soaked the beans overnight on Sunday, prepped the vegetables Monday morning and tossed all the ingredients in my slow cooker*. The results didn’t suffer. 

I ate the first few servings over white rice with an ear of Florida corn, sliced avocado and a few tablespoons of leftover tomatillo salsa. It would have been a vegan meal had I not slathered the corn in butter. Oops. 

This pot made plenty, so I froze a good portion for later use and have experimental plans for the rest of the batch.

Addie’s Cuban Black Beans
1 pound dried black beans
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

Instructions
Rinse beans in a colander, and place in a large bowl. Cover beans with water, at least 3 inches above their surface. Soak overnight.

Heat olive oil in a large pot over; add onion, pepper, garlic, and bay leaf. Turn heat to medium and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until onion is translucent. Pour in beans along with the water you soaked them in. (It will affect the color, but you also can rinse the beans at this point and add fresh water to reduce gastrointestinal disturbance. Sorry to be crude.)

Add salt, pepper, sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 3 hours, adding more water if necessary. 

Serves 6 to 8

*To prepare this in a slow cooker, add sauteed vegetables to soaked beans and seasonings. I cooked mine on high for 6 hours and on warm until I got home, probably a total of 10 hours.