Cuban Black Beans

(I have no idea how authentically "cuban" these black beans are. That is just the title the recipe had when I got it)
My sister sent me this recipe for Black Beans and said that they were the best ones that she had ever tasted. I believed her and decided I would have to make them.
I usually use canned beans when I cook, draining and rinsing them, but this called for dried beans, which you have to soak overnight.
I actually started this recipe in the morning and soaked my beans for 8 hours. It worked!

I didn't really know what to expect from this recipe, but it was worth the time. The taste was amazing. These beans are so flavorful, which really surprised me and by the time they were done cooking, the texture of the beans was perfect-not hard or crumbly.

I ate a big bowl of these plain and then added some cooked rice and chopped tomato when we ate them again.
These would make a great addition to a burrito or a nice side dish. Very, very tasty.
Thanks Audrey, for passing the recipe on to me!

On a little side note, has anyone seen these cute little mini pitas?
When we went to visit my sister (same one who gave me the BB recipe) this summer, she was making all sorts of cute things with these mini pitas.

I found them at Publix and now, we eat them all the time. I stuff them with lunchmeat, cheese and a spinach leaf and pack them in my son's lunch for school, we dip them in hummus, make pb&j sammies with them, and also make little breakfast bites, here I just filled them with scrambled eggs. I buy the whole wheat mini pitas and they are really fun to fill with different things. If you can find them, try them out!

Cuban Black Beans from my sister's friend, Sharra

Ingredients
1 lb black beans
6 cups water
1 large green bell pepper chopped
1 large minced onion
4 cloves minced garlic
A second green pepper minced
2/3 cups olive oil (I only used a couple Tbls)
4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tbsp dry wine (I omitted this)
2 tbsp vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
2 tbsp oil (I forgot to add this!)

Rinse Beans. Combine beans, water, chopped pepper. Soak overnite.
Cook covered for 45 minutes or until soft.
In a frying pan, saute onion, garlic, 2/3 cup olive oil, and minced pepper.
Take 1 cup of beans and mash into sauteed vegetables.
Pour sauteed veggies into bean pot.
Add 4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, oregano, bay leaf broken in half, and sugar.
Cook covered 1 hour.
Add 2 tbsp vinegar and wine.
Cook 1 hour uncovered to thicken.
When ready to serve add 2 Tbsp oil.