Black Beans and Plantain with Brown Jasmine Rice (No Added Fat)

I was in the mood of cooking with plantain, and we picked one up last night. In May 2012, I made a
Cuban "moros y cristianos" black bean-plantain dish, but today wanted to make a pressure-cooked medley of beans with plantain and onion. This is what I did.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry black beans, soaked in ample water overnight, optionally with several large chunks of ginger (to lend a bit of flavor and reduce gasiness that may result from the beans)
• Water to just cover beans (approx. 1/4 - 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 red onion cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1 plantain cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 medium roma tomatoes cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• Medium shallot cut into 1/4" cubes
• Salt to taste (approx. 1/2 t is a good starting point)

Process

1. I drained and rinsed the beans (and should have removed the ginger, but forgot - my wife ended up biting into a large piece of ginger, but really didn't mind), then put them, along with enough water to just cover them, into the Instant Pot pressure cooker.
2. I cooked for 15 minutes on high pressure. When I was ready, I slow released any remaining pressure and opened the pot.
3. I added the onion, plantain, and tomato, and cooked on high pressure for another 4 minutes.
4. When I was ready to serve, I slowly released remaining pressure, mixed in the cumin, shallot, and salt, and served.

I also made some brown Jasmine rice (1 part rice to 2 parts water; I put this along with a vegan bouillon cube into my rice cooker and cooked as a brown rice), which I served with soy sauce.

Results

All of us enjoyed dinner. My wife and I added hot sauce to the main course, a natural addition with the plantain and beans. It was hearty and tasty - and the kitchen smelled great.

Ideas for the future

The beans were done but could have been a little softer. I might try cooking the beans for 20 minutes in the first cycle next time.