Black Bean—Sweet Potato Skillet

Late May. The world is accelerating toward summer with a velocity that feels almost reckless after the slow pandemic crawl — businesses reopening, masks coming off in some places, the streets of Hartford filling with people who have been inside for a year and who are blinking in the sunlight like miners emerging from a shaft. I am not blinking. I have been outside the whole time. I have been at the hospital, at the bodega, at Mami's apartment, at the stove. The pandemic did not pause my life. The pandemic added a mask to my life. The mask is coming off. The life continues.

David's restaurant is reopening. He called Thursday with the news — the landlord has agreed to a new lease, the staff is reassembling, the kitchen is being cleaned and restocked. He sounds like David again, like the David before the pandemic, like the man whose identity is tied to a kitchen the way mine is tied to mine. He said, Mami, we open in three weeks. I said, David, what's on the menu? He said, Everything. Caribbean-fusion. Updated. He paused. He said, I'm putting your sofrito on the menu. Not the recipe — my version. But the base is yours. I was quiet. He said, Mami? I said, David, the base has always been mine. The base was always going to be mine. You can put it on a menu in Brooklyn and charge twenty dollars for what Abuela Consuelo gave away for free, and I will be proud of you for every dollar, because the dollar means someone is tasting our family's history and paying for the privilege.

I made mofongo this week — the pilón, the garlic, the chicharrón, the mashing rhythm that is a drumbeat from the island. I made it for no reason except that the weather was warm and the kitchen windows were open and the warm air coming through the screens smelled like almost-summer and the mofongo smelled like always and the combination of almost-summer and always was enough reason. Eduardo ate it standing at the counter. He said, You should open a restaurant. I said, Eduardo, I feed a hospital. That is a restaurant with worse décor and better patients.

The mofongo I made that week reminded me of something I already knew: the best cooking happens when you’re not trying to prove anything, just feeding people who are standing at the counter. When I wanted to write something down for you — a recipe that carries that same warmth without requiring a pilón or chicharrón — I kept coming back to this Black Bean—Sweet Potato Skillet, because the sweet potato holds heat the way the plantain does, earthy and honest and ready. David can put sofrito on a Brooklyn menu; I’ll keep building that base into whatever I’m cooking, including this.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro and lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

Build the base. Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Bloom the spices. Stir in the cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and cayenne. Let the spices toast in the oil for 30 seconds — you’ll smell when they’re ready.
Add the sweet potatoes. Add the cubed sweet potatoes to the skillet and stir to coat in the spiced oil. Pour in the broth, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are just fork-tender.
Finish with beans and tomatoes. Uncover the skillet and add the black beans and diced tomatoes with their juices. Stir gently, raise heat to medium, and simmer uncovered for 6 to 8 minutes until the liquid reduces and everything is well combined and saucy.
Season and serve. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Serve directly from the skillet, topped with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime. Eat standing at the counter if that’s how the evening goes.

Nutrition (per serving)

Black Bean—Sweet Potato Skillet — The Warmth That Was Always There