Frijoles Antioqueños (Colombian Style Beans)

I’ve always been a fan of simple food, like beans. Maybe it has something to do with being Latina, beans were ALWAYS somewhere on the plate.  I think beans are one of those foods that capture the food culture of a particular ethnic group.  Cuban beans taste totally different than Puerto Rican beans,  and Puerto Rican beans taste totally different from Colombian beans.   These beans are unlike any I’ve ever had.  They’re an essential part of the quintessentially Colombian smorgasbord called “The Bandeja Paisa”.

This plate of deliciousness has all the major food groups…meat (steak or ground beef), meat (Colombian chorizo), meat (Fried Pork Belly), rice, beans, egg, avocado and plantain.  It’s a foodgasm on a plate, and it’s usually what I order whenever I go to a Colombian restaurant.

The element that ties all these flavors together is definitely the beans.  If you put anything other than friojoles antiqueños on the plate, it’s no longer a Bandeja Paisa.  The beans are SO GOOD, I could eat them in a bowl, with nothing more than a sprinkle of cilantro.  Here’s my version, made in the slow cooker!

Side note, those who follow my blog know I like to include a ton of pics.  As I began to write this post, I popped in my SD card to find (to my horror) that NONE of the pictures I took for this post were on my SD card.  I don’t know what happened to them, but as you can imagine, this post will be light on pics.  I promise to remake this recipe and post more pics!

Ingredients

3 cups dried Cranberry beans (use pinto beans if you can’t find these)
4 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth, or water
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 pork hocks
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup carrots, cubed
1/2 green plantain, peeled & cubed
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper

Directions

Rinse the beans and pick out any funny looking bits.  Place them into a bowl and cover them with 2 inches of water.  Refrigerate overnight to soak.  In the morning, place the beans, broth/water and pork hocks in the slow cooker insert.  Cook on low for 4 hours.  After 4 hours, add in the tomatoes, onion, garlic, carrot, plantain, scallions, and cumin.  Cook for another 4 hours on low.  Season with salt and pepper, serve with rice or as a stand alone soup.