COLOMBIAN BEAN STEW (ChF, GF, GF, NF, V+) — a vegan food photography and styling blog (2024)

Traditionally, this stew would be served as part of a larger meal often referred to as a ‘bandeja paisa’ – a platter which contains a hearty bean dish like this one or served with meat or chicken mixed in, (white)rice and some avocado slices. Colombians like their food on the spicy side, so chilli flakes or a spicy chilli sauce - aji - are usually added to the platter as well as a crisp side salad.

Now I am not normally a massive fan of white rice BUT I wanted to keep this recipe and its presentation as traditional as possible, plus we had it for lunch after I took these shots and the compromise I made with my feisty 6-year-old was that he could have white rice (his favourite) if he ate a bowl of these beans. He asked for seconds of both the beans and the rice, so I felt it was a win-win situation all round :)

Enjoy the recipe and thanks for reading everyone.

P.S.NETFLIGHTSkindly paid me for making this recipe which means this is in effect a sponsored blog post ;)

2 boxes (tetra pack) of black beans – box/pack of 380g each, 230g when drained
a dash of olive oil or rice bran oil for pan frying
100ml water
5 garlic cloves
1 can/400g of chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 vegetable stock cube (please use a gluten-free one if you want this recipe to be gluten-free)
2 small onions
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 heaped teaspoon of dried oregano
2 - 3 teaspoons of sugar
a pinch of ground black pepper

To garnish:
a small handful of fresh coriander or fresh parsley leaves
some fresh tomatoes (optional)
some chilli flakes (optional)
avocado to serve with (optional)

Drain the black beans and set aside.
Peel and chop the onions and garlic finely.
Over a medium heat, warm the oil in a large frying pan and sweat the onions until translucent - about 5 -10 minutes or so. Then add the garlic and pan fry everything for about 2 minutes. Next add the chopped tomatoes, stir and add the water.

Next add the beans and stir until nicely combined. At this point lower the heat to a simmer, add the vegetable cube and let it dissolve completely. Add the cumin, ground ginger, sugar and dried oregano. Let it simmer to intensify the flavours. Taste and see if it needs a tiny bit more sugar. Let it reduce a little more - this shouldn't take very long. When done, remove from the heat and sprinkle some ground black pepper on top and serve warm.

Tip1:If you prefer, you can keep 100ml of the water from the packed beans and use instead of the regular water.
Tip 2:You can also use dried beans for this recipe if you prefer. Just replace the packed soaked beans with 250g of dried beans. Soak at least overnight for a minimum of 12 hours, preferably 24 hours. You can also use canned beans instead of the boxed beans.
Tip 3:You can use white or red onions, it doesn't really matter in terms of flavour. They should be small-ish though.
Tip 4:There is no need to add salt as the vegetable cube will suffice.
Tip 5:You can also make double the quantity if you're feeding hungry adults or freeze the surplus