Cuban Black Beans with Olive Oil

Serves 8 in about 1 hour. The pot starts with jalapeños deseeded, then sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 lb black beans, unsoaked, rinsed
• 1 lg yellow onion, whole
• 2 jalapeños, deseeded
• 8 cloves garlic, leave whole
• 2 bell peppers, 1 green and 1 red, whole
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 3-4 cups vegetable broth*, low sodium (or chicken broth)
• 2 tsp kosher salt (or more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ⅓ cup olive oil

Method

1. Prepare the vegetables:Peel the onion, but leave it whole. Cut the jalapeños in half and scrape out the seeds. Peel the garlic and leave the cloves whole. Cut the tops off of the bell peppers and shake out the seeds. Leave them uncut.
2. Tip in the beans, onion, jalapeños, garlic, bell peppers, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and chicken broth to the inner liner pot of the pressure cooker. Make sure the beans are submerged.
3. Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
4. Press the Pressure Cook/Manual button or dial, then the +/- button or dial to select 25 minutes. High Pressure. The pot will take several minutes to come to pressure.
5. When the cook cycle has finished, turn off the pot and let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes (15 instant natural release). Then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position to release the remaining steam/pressure.
6. When the pin in the lid drops back down, open the lid.
7. Lift out the cinnamon stick, and bay leaves. Discard.
8. Spoon out the onion, jalapeños, garlic and bell peppers. Put them into a blender, along with about ¼ cup of the beans and ¼ cup of the liquid from the pot.
9. Carefully blend until smooth. Tip in mixture into the pot and stir.
10. Stir in the salt, sugar, and olive oil. Stir.
11. Close the lid and set the steam release knob to the Sealing position. Set cook time for 10 minutes, high pressure. After cooking, let naturally release for 10 minutes, then quick release the remaining pressure.
12. Plate hot, over rice or alone.

More instant pot ideas are in the instant pot collection.