Colombian Red Beans: Frijoles Rojos Colombianos

You can use dried beans and then soak them overnight, but it is much easier to use canned kidney beans, a VERY common food product in the United States, and in many other countries too. There are variations for this dish; and in fact, some people serve fried ripened plantains* on the side, rather than using plantains in the actual beans. I likely checked about 12 to 15 recipes, and all but 3 or 4 had no meat, with one of those using smoked pork, and the 2 or 3 others using chorizo (sausage).

Ingredients:

3 cans (15.5 to 16 ounces each) light red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 green plantain, peeled and chopped 
2 packets Sazón Goya with annatto **
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2/3 teaspoon salt
cubed avocado sprinkled with a little lemon juice for a garnish
green onion, chopped, garnish

Put the chopped plantain into a pan with some water over medium heat. Cook the plantain until softened. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and add the onion, bell pepper and carrot. Saute for about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and saute further until the vegetables are softened. Add the tomatoes and cook just a couple of more minutes. Add the drained and rinsed beans, the cumin, the Sazón Goya with annatto, the cooked chopped plantain and the black pepper; mix together and add the chicken broth, stir well again. Increase heat to medium until it begins to simmer. Adjust heat to just maintain a simmer and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chopped cilantro and the salt and stir. Serve the beans in bowls, adding some pieces of chopped avocado and some chopped green onion on top, and serving some rice along side.  

* The ripened plantains, which usually have a blackened peel or a peel with black spots, are peeled, sliced and sweetened with sugar (often brown sugar) and fried in some oil.

** Sazón Goya is a Latino seasoning that is easily obtainable in the Latino section of the supermarket or any Latino market. I bought a small box of 8 packets for about $1.75. There are different types, but the one with coriander and annatto is the one you need. Annatto is a seasoning and food coloring product from the seeds of the achiote tree. It is commonly used in dishes from the Caribbean and Central and South America.

WORD HISTORY:
More (2)-English has a couple words of this spelling, but this is the noun, which was long the English word for "carrot," until replaced as the main word by that borrowed word, "carrot." It goes back to Indo European "murk/mrk," which meant, "edible root." This gave Old Germanic "murhon," ^ with the more specific meaning "carrot," but also, "parsnip." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "moru," with those same meanings. This then became "more" (likely pronounced as if, "mor-eh"/"mor-ah"). "Carrot" began to overtake it in the early 1500s. It is still used as a dialect word in parts of the UK. Low German and Dutch both had "more," but it was overtaken by "wortel," a word related to English "root" (likewise with West Frisian "woartel" ^^). German still has "Möhre," but it shares the meaning with "Karotte," also borrowed by German, and both forms are commonly used.    

^ This may have been a West Germanic survival from Old Germanic, as I could not find any forms in the North Germanic languages or in Old Norse from centuries ago, except as a borrowing.

^^ Low German and Dutch "wortel" and West Frisian "woartel" (German has "Wurzel") are related to Old English "wyrtwala," which meant "root, lower part of a plant." Old English "wyrt" itself meant, "herb plant," which were also used to flavor old forms of beer, and the term is still associated in English with beer making to this very day, as well as with certain plants like, "Saint John's Wort."