How to Cook Black Beans

Luna is one year old this week. I want to be careful about when I say this because I do not know her exact birthdate — the bio Hannah wrote for this blog says Luna was born earlier in 2016, and that is accurate, she was born in February. So she turned one in February and I am only now getting around to writing about it in April, which is the honest accounting of a man who has been working fifty-hour weeks and trying to keep up with everything else.

What one year old means is: walking, babbling with intent, eating solid food that is not all pureed, sleeping through most nights but not all of them, having opinions that she cannot fully express but will not stop trying to. Luna at one year old is concentrated. She is compact and efficient and she watches everything. When Kai is in a room, Luna watches Kai. When Danny is in a room, Luna watches Danny. She is taking notes on how people are and I believe she is learning from them at a rate that is going to surprise us in about three years.

I made her a smash cake for her actual birthday back in February — a small round cake I let her put her hands into, which is the tradition, and which she did with complete lack of ceremony, pressing her palms flat into the frosting and examining the result with scientific interest. She ate some of it. She mostly examined it. Kai at one year old had eaten his smash cake with both hands and his face. Different kids, entirely.

For her first real birthday dinner I made her the things she has been eating: venison and vegetable puree that is almost but not quite a soup, bean bread torn into small pieces she can pick up herself, mashed cooked butternut squash with a little maple syrup. She ate all of it. She ate it in the methodical way she does everything — one item at a time, each in its turn, not reaching for the next thing until the current thing is finished. She is going to be an extremely organized person. Hannah says she gets it from me. I think Hannah is being generous.

The bean bread I tore into small pieces for Luna that night — the kind she could pick up herself, one careful piece at a time — starts long before the bread does. It starts with a pot of black beans, cooked low and patient until they are soft all the way through and rich in their own liquid. If you are going to feed someone who is learning what food is, what eating means, what it feels like to be satisfied, you start at the beginning. This is the beginning.

Prep Time: 8 hours (soaking) | Cook Time: 1 hour 30 min | Total Time: 9 hours 30 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 pound dried black beans
8 cups water, plus more for soaking
1/2 medium yellow onion, left in one piece
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

Instructions

Sort and rinse. Spread the dried black beans on a clean surface and pick out any small stones or shriveled beans. Rinse well under cold running water.
Soak overnight. Place the rinsed beans in a large bowl and cover with at least 3 inches of cold water. Let soak for 8 hours or overnight at room temperature. Drain and rinse before cooking.
Combine in pot. Add the soaked, drained beans to a large heavy-bottomed pot. Pour in 8 cups of fresh water. Add the onion half, smashed garlic cloves, and bay leaf.
Bring to a boil. Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a full boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface during the first few minutes.
Simmer low and slow. Reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the beans are completely tender and creamy all the way through when pressed between two fingers.
Season at the end. Once the beans are fully soft, stir in the salt, cumin if using, and olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove the onion, garlic, and bay leaf before serving.
Serve or store. Serve warm with their cooking liquid as a side, use as a base for bean bread, or cool completely and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Beans freeze well for up to 3 months.

Nutrition (per serving)

How to Cook Black Beans — The Building Block of Luna’s First Birthday Bean Bread