A recipe from our sisterhood. This is really good, and a bit hot. It was a massive hit at one of our trapezas.
There is no need to use the olive oil. I sautee things in water all the time. In almost any recipe, where oil is used to sautee onions or someting else, you can use water. Try it! You need not break the oil fast unless you want to.
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1 T. olive oil
1/2 med onion, finely chopped
1/2 med red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 med green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (1/2 t.)
1 t. cumin
1 t. dried thyme, or 1 T. fresh
1 bay leaves
1 t. canned chipotle chilies minced with sauce
2 (15 oz.) cans cooked black beans, rinsed and drained well
1 c. water
1 c. coconut milk
1 t. lime juice
salt to taste
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan, and saute the onion for 3 minutes, until it is golden brown. Add the peppers and garlic; continue to saute for 2 minutes. Add the cumin, dried thyme, bay leaves, and chipotle chilies; combine well.
Add the black beans, water and coconut milk to the pot, and stir well. Simmer the beans for 10-15 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and salt.
Ladle the beans into serving bowls, and top each bowl with the chopped scallions and cilantro.
Sour cream on top also helps cool, if it turns out too hot. Also serve with basmati rice if desired.
Beware: Chipotle peppers are VERY hot!
Just read over Orthodox Church fasting rules for Great Lent, which sad it was perfectly alright to use other types of oils, as the fasting rules forbid only olive oil. So, one would not have to “saute in water,” and would not be “breaking the oil fast.” Isn’t that good news!
Fasting from olive oil and using other oils is the custom of some. It is not my custom, unless somebody else is cooking. There is, like most things, a “strict interpretation”.
I have the attitude that if I can do something, I should, because the things that I can do that I do help me to do the things I cannot do. I can abstain from oil when cooking onions, but I cannot stop from being angry, or other sins. The oil is a small thing, but the anger is a big thing. The additional (small amount) of effort to avoid oil will help me to conquer big things.
Not everybody agrees with me, an that is all right. My own household does not agree with me, and when somebody else cooks with some kind of non-olive oil, I will eat, unless they used margarine, which is just gross!