Black Beans with Potato and Fennel, Jade Pearl Rice (No Added Fat)

Happy Diwali! I miss my family but enjoyed spending the afternoon and evening with a friend, who joined me for dinner. I thought that I'd make a black bean dish, and this is what I did:


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups black beans, rinsed, soaked overnight (or in boiling water for 3-4 hours), and rinsed again
• Enough water to just cover the beans plus 1/4"
• Medium Yukon Gold (or other) potato cut into 1/2" pieces (about 3/4 -1  cup)
• 2 cloves garlic finely (1/8") minced
• 1T ginger finely (1/8") diced
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/3 cup fennel cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1 1/4 cups bell pepper cut into approx. 1 1/4" x 1/4" strips
• 1 1/4 cups corn kernels (I used frozen, but fresh would be fine)
• 1/2 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 T nutritional yeast
• 1 t black sesame seed
• 1/8 t turmeric
• 2 t lime juice
• 2 t crushed red pepper

Process

1. I put the beans, potato, garlic, ginger, and bouillon cube into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 35m.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure (well, actually, I went with my friend to see a film so the Instant Pot was immediately ready in "keep warm" mode when I came home), then aded the fennel, bell pepper, and corn, and cooked for another 2 minutes on low pressure this time.
3. When I was ready to serve, I opened the pot slowly, and mixed in the remaining ingredients (onion, lime juice, and seasoning).

Results

Dinner came out well. The beans were more liquidy than I wanted but I fear cutting water back when cooking black beans as they come out tough if not cooked with enough water.

Ideas for the future

I should make this dish for my family when they return. I might use a little less fennel to give it a more subtle flavor. The potato worked well; adding 50% more potato would not be bad. Diced carrot would go well with this dish.