Black Beans and Rice

This recipe is from my friend from grad school, Jenika McDavitt.  Sometimes I use this as a side with Mexican/Latin meals, and other times we eat it as the main dish for dinner.  Here is the recipe as Jenika gave it to me:

What you need: 2/3 large white onion, 3 cloves garlic, olive oil, Elkridge summer sausage, bacon optional, 3 cans black beans (undrained), 1-2 cups beef broth, bay leaves.

Saute 2/3 of a large white onion (red onion works too) and 3ish cloves of minced garlic in olive oil until onions are soft.

While that's sauteing, cut up 1 link of Elkridge summer sausage into small chunks (we usually cut the whole link in half lengthwise and then sliced it like a cucumber). Sometimes we might put 1.5 links in to have more sausage because it is so delicious. :-)

If desired, cut up ~6 slices of bacon into small pieces and pan fry, then pat off excess oil. We started leaving the bacon out to make it a little healthier, and we haven't noticed enough of a difference to put it back in. Whatever you want.

Once onions are soft, add sausage (and bacon if you use it) to the onion/garlic pan and saute for another couple of minutes to allow the garlic to flavor the meat directly. The meat is already cooked so no need to leave it in longer, you don't want it tough.

Dump pan into a crock pot, and add:
3 cans of black beans
1-2 cups of beef broth (depending on how long this is going to cook for and how liquid-y you want the beans to be)
2-3 bay leaves

Stir up and leave in crock pot at desired time. When it's done, make sure not to eat the bay leaves! If serving for guests I just take them out altogether at the end. 

Serve over rice.