Here’s a quick method to making refried black beans for those of you who don’t have the time to soak beans over night and stew them all day.  Of course, that IS the best way, but who has time for that mess?  This method will give you the same satisfaction, and you can have them ready to eat in less than 1 hour!

This tasty vegan recipe is more of a guide, as I cannot give you exact measurements to make your rice the same way I do.  Normally, what I do is saute some veg for my rice in a separate saute pan first, such as, carrots (I cut them into little cubes, about pea size), garlic, minced onion, minced bell peppers, peas, and maybe a small jalapeno.  Set that aside.  Then, prepare the water you are going to boil your rice in.  Usually, you would want to use 3 times the amount of rice for your water measurement.  So if you are boiling 1 cup of rice, you’d need 2 1/2 – 3 cups of liquid.  I mix in some low sodium veggie broth (or you can use veg stock if you have it!  Dilute 2 cups of veg broth with 1 cup water, or it gets really thick!) and let that start getting hot.  Then, I add about 2 teaspoons dark chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, salt, pepper, and a few drops of tabasco.  Then put the rice in and stir until it boils.  Then, cover and simmer until the rice has soaked up all of the liquid and is fully cooked.  Once that is done, add your veg and season with salt and pepper!  Easy stuff!