I avoided beans like the plague for the first 20 or so years of my life. The texture, the smell and the taste – yea they pretty much all disgusted me. Don’t believe me? Ask my mom & dad.
I have a few extremely vivid memories of sitting at my dinner table by myself, late in the evening, with a timer on. The timer was set as motivation for me to swallow the beans stuffed in my mouth that I stubbornly refused to do. If I didn’t swallow before the timer went off – no dessert.
I didn’t get many desserts when I was a kid.
One of the first beans that didn’t make me vomit were Mexican style beans. I adore Mexican food. I was also dating a REALLY pretty girl named Patti that I wanted to impress…and shoving beans aside on your plate isn’t an attractive quality in a man.
For love of a girl and fear of embarrassment I accidentally became a huge fan of beans.
When I was planning our Mexican week I knew a bean recipe had to be included, but I didn’t know which one would fit the bill. One of my favorite food blogs gave me the answer.
Natalie at The Sweets Life posts ridiculously delicious recipes every day. No, that’s not a typo – Every. Day. 7 days a week. She’s dedicated and fantastic all rolled up in an incredible food blog. If you don’t follow her, you will now. I promise one glance down her front page and you’ll be drawn like a moth to the flame.
She posted her Slow Cooker Mexican Black Beans recipe in April while I was planning ahead for Cinco de Mayo and I had to include it. So here is our version, in all its simple delicious glory.
They’re so tasty, you won’t even have to set a timer to finish them.
Mexican Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried black beans
- 6 cups chicken broth I used smoked chicken broth
- 6 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
- 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp chili powder
Instructions
- Soak beans overnight in a large stockpot. The next morning, drain and place in the slow cooker.
- Add remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on low for 8 hours.