black beans

I love to saute diced sweet potato with sweet onion until sweet potato is 3/4 finished, then add black beans and fresh garlic and cumin and maybe some delicious spicy peppers into the mix, add a little broth, cover, stir occasionally, its beautiful, easy, tasty.

Here is a fantastic stir-in that will take any basic pot of Mexican-style black beans to the next level. It's a Rick Bayless recipe (a condensed version of the longer, more authentic version from one of his cookbooks, but still amazing):

http://m.foodandwine.com/recipes/salsa-negra-with-chipotle

The heat in this salsa is extremely concentrated, so use it judiciously. Also, stir it in at the end of cooking as the flavor an heat get muted with too much cooking. I've served black beans with this salsa negra mixed in it as a side dish for guests and got rave reviews.

Rinse a can of black beans, chop up some red onion, defrost and rinse and dry some corn kernels. Mix all that and dress with lime juice, cumin, garlic, and olive oil, salt and pepper. Put in the fridge overnight and garnish with cilantro or parsley before serving.