Black beans are simmered up with cumin and lime, then served over rice with sweet pan-fried plantains to make this mouthwatering Cuban-inspired vegan meal.
I’m a bit jealous of the newest generation of vegetarians. I think it’s great and all to see more and more people adopting a plant-based lifestyle, but having given up meat myself around 1993, I see how easy the newly veganized have it, and there’s a touch of envy.
Back when I went veg Whole Foods was nearly unheard of, I didn’t know of any vegetarian restaurants, and if I wanted some tofu or other exotic ingredient I’d have to get mom to take me on one heck of a road trip. Then there was school. I wasn’t aware of any other vegetarians in my class and there was a bit of teasing and kids waving baloney in my face in the lunchroom while singing New Age Girl.
It was tough being a veggie kid in the nineties.
Even in my teens I loved to cook, so of course I signed up for all the cooking classes. During a regional foods lesson one day another student was covering the American south and brought in a bunch of collard greens. That got me excited. My excitement grew throughout the preparation of the greens, up until that sad, sad point (to me) when the student doused them in bacon grease.
I didn’t bother with collard greens after that, thinking bacon grease had some kind of exclusive license to them…until well into the 2010’s when my husband told me about an amazing dish a friend made for him a while back involving collard greens with rice, beans and plantain chips. “No bacon grease required.” He informed.
I’ve recreated that dish for this post. I’m relieved to say that it turned out to be bowl-licking scrumptious, adding a new and delicious meal to my recipe collection and giving me what I’d like to consider something of a happy ending to my high school woes.
The fried plantains add some amazing sweetness and texture to this dish, but if you’re looking for a quick weeknight dinner, you could skip them and the meal will still be delicious.
More Vegan Latin American Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Cuban-Inspired Black Beans and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup long grain rice, see my note
- ¼ cup olive or vegetable oil, divided
- 2 ripe plantains, sliced about 1 inch thick
- ½ medium red onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 14 ounce can or 1 ¾ cups cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 small bunch of collard greens, about 6 leaves slices into strips
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to package directions.
- In large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, arrange the plantain slices in a single layer and cook about 5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Work in batches if needed, and add oil to the skillet between batches if it dries up. Transfer the cooked plantain slices to a dish covered with a paper towel, to drain any excess oil.
- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the same skillet over medium heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for another minute, until very fragrant. Add beans, broth, lime juice, cumin, coriander, and paprika. Simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off, which should take 5-10 minutes.
- Add the collard greens to the skillet and simmer just until wilted, about another 3 minutes, adding a few tablespoons of water if the bean mixture gets too thick. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide rice onto dishes, and top with bean mixture and plantains. Garnish with some extra cilantro if you'd like.
Notes
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Delicious. I especially enjoyed the collard greens, which were so good simmered with the beans and spices. I overcooked the bean mixture a little, which made the final product a little dry. Next time I'll use a bit more stock or cook it less so the beans are a little soupier before serving over rice. I'm also unfamiliar with cooking plantains, and mine were too green--I should have left them out for a day or two to sweeten. We really enjoyed this recipe, though, and I look forward to making it again. What a fast, flavorful, and filling weeknight meal!
Thank you so much colleen! I'm so glad you enjoyed this!
I made this tonight and both hubby and I really enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, the store didn't have plantains or collard greens, (they were out of a lot of things, probably due to the storm we're having,) so I had to substitute spinach and sweet potatoes. But it turned out really good! I sprinkled cinnamon, garlic powder, salt, and pepper on the sweet potatoes while they were in the stove, and it added a nice flavor.
I look forward to trying the recipe as it's written when I can actually get all of the ingredients. :)
Those sound like great substitutions - I love the combination of sweet potatoes and black beans! I'm glad it was a hit!!
Hi, Alissa, I feel your pain about that dang bacon grease. I made some fresh collards last May that were really, really good, inspired by the Ethiopian (part-time) vegan tradition. They stew them, finely cut, with lots of garlic and gingerroot, onions, and spices such as cloves and cumin and oregano. Usually, it's a spiced oil that is added, but you can just add the spices individually. And use olive oil to start a saute.
I've tried to create a vegan version of that bacon grease collards recipe, but I wasn't thrilled with the result. I'll give your recipe a try - that sounds delicious!
A great use for the greens from my CSA!! This was delicious!!
Yay!! I'm so happy to hear that! Thanks Jennifer!
Love this thanks! I didn't have cumin or ground coriander so replaced it with garam masala - so delicious, thanks again! :-)
Oh wow! I bet that was delicious! I'm glad you enjoyed them!!
Today I bought a bunch of collards to try for the first time.. went in search of recipes and had the great good fortune to come across your website. Awesome! As someone who has researched recipes on the net for decades, I have to say how impressed I am with your recipes and photos. Beautifully done Alissa and I look forward to trying the cuban beans and rice tonight!
Thank you so much Susan! I hope you enjoy the dish. :)
Love loooove all of your internationally-inspired recipes. So keen to try cooking some plantains for the first time now!
Thanks so much! Plantains are amazing! I definitely recommend giving them a try. :)
I´m sad to hear that you had such a tough veggie kid time. But perhaps that´s why you´re creating such wonderful recipes now :) By the way: Awwwhhhh.... yes, this is mouthwatering :) We prepared this recipe with the leaves of a kohlrabi and it was great :) Thanks for sharing this recipe :)
This looks delicious! Long shot but do you know where to find plantains in Sydney?
I used to get teased for being veg back in school too, still do now sometimes, but a lot less since the veggie movement has been growing :)
Just found and made this, very tasty. Used spinach instead of collards and topped also with avocado.
Glad you enjoyed it! I've been meaning to make this one again myself - maybe I'll try spinach too. :)
I just have to say: you post the most wonderful recipes and photos. I love your blog!! :)
You are the sweetest!!! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying the blog and your comment totally just made my morning :)
I've been wanting to make a recipe with plantains. Love this. Thank you
Thank you!!! Enjoy!