Frijoles de Olla

One of the simplest dishes in the world, Frijoles de Olla is also one of our favorites. How simple is it? It’s just dried Mexican beans (pintos, bayos, frijoles negros, or mayocobas, flor de mayo, canarios, etc.) simmered in water with nothing more than a little onion and garlic. Salt gets stirred in at the end.

It makes a great side dish for many Mexican and Tex-Mex specialties, but if you’re a bean-lover, it’s wonderful even by itself. And it’s vegan. We like to garnish a bowl of it, served with some of its soupy cooking liquid, with chopped cilantro and white onion. It’s also easy to turn it into a soup — sauté some onion till tender and translucent, add frijoles de olla with its liquid and some diced tomato (either canned or fresh), simmer fifteen minutes or so, and it’s soup. Toss some chopped cilantro in at the end, if you like.

Finally, if you want to make Frijoles Refritos (Refried Beans), Frijoles de Olla is the first step.

Just one thing to keep in mind: The cooking time is wildly different for various types of beans. Bayos, mayocobas and similar beans cook quickly: They’re usually done in about an hour. Pintos usually take two and a half or three hours. Black beans take about four. However, the freshness of the beans are a factor as well; fresher beans cook more quickly. Therefore, it’s important to taste along the way to judge done-ness.

Serves four.

Ingredients

1 pound dried beans

1/4 white onion, sliced

4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly smashed