Beans Puerto Rican Style (great with Rice)

From: Wendy's friend Gloria in NY

Beans
½ bag Dried Beans (Goya brand) – I use pink or small red
3-4 tsp of sofrito (see seperate Recipe)
2 packets of Sazon Accent
1 packet of Chicken bouillon (Goya brand)
1 small can of tomato paste
1 Medium potato, peeled and cut into 4-6 pieces
2 tsp of olive oil
1/3 cup diced ham steak (optional)
Salt to taste

Pour beans into a medium size mixing bowl and cover with water, soak overnight. Next drain beans and rinse. Add into pressure cooker cover with water and cook on medium for about 25-30 minutes until tender. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, boil in a pot for about 1hr or a little more until tender.

Once beans are tender, add all the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 20-30 minutes until beans have thickened and potato is tender, you should have a stew like consistency..not super thick or too runny. Serve over rice.
**If using black beans, omit the tomato paste completely.
**If using canned beans.. use the same recipe but use 2 cans of beans instead

Sofrito (used in Puerto Rican Beans)

From: Wendy's friend Gloria in NY

1 Bunch of fresh Cilantro – Cut the bottom stems off
1 Medium Onion – cut into 4
½ Cup Peeled Garlic Cloves
2 Italian Green Peppers or Sometimes called Cubanelle – cleaned and cut into large chunks
1/3 Cup Olive Oil

In Blender at: Garlic and onion with about ½ of the olive oil, blend into a paste like consistency, then add the peppers, blend again, lastly add cilantro and remaining oil, blend well into a pesto like consistency. Separate into small freezer containers and keep in your freezer. When ready to use, just bring down into the fridge the night before to semi defrost, use as much as you need and then freeze again.