Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Sirelys Paez

Fort Belvoir, Va. -

Editor's note: This is one of several articles celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. We asked people to share recipes with Hispanic heritage roots and short stories about their lives.

My name is Sirelys Paez and I went to school in New Jersey and graduated with a bachelor's in accounting with a concentration in Supply Chain Management. After graduation, I moved to Florida and worked as an auditor for the state of Florida for seven years. Two years ago, I joined DCAA and have continued working as an auditor.

My grandmother taught me how to cook starting at six years old and from that, a big hobby of mine is cooking authentic Cuban food. The first recipe my grandmother shared with me was black bean soup. I still remember the first sofrito I made for the black beans. Nowadays, I still follow my grandmother's recipe. My husband, my 3-year-old daughter and I love this recipe; black bean soup is definitely a crowd pleaser. This recipe reminds me of how proud and happy I am to follow Cuban food traditions and cooking this dish always reminds me of my heritage and family.

Black Bean Soup

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
• Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (2 cups) dried black beans (rinsed)
• 8 cups of water

For the sofrito:

• 1/2 small purple or yellow onion, peeled and minced
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried cumin
• 1/4 red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup Olive oil

Cooking Instructions:

1. To cook the beans, place the rinsed beans with the 8 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 30-45 minutes. (It depends on the pressure cooker, typically the electric pressure cooker has a preset button for black beans). Meanwhile, you can make the sofrito.
2. Heat the olive oil in a medium size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and the onions and sauté until light golden.
3. Then, add the red bell pepper, cumin, oregano and bay leaf and sauté for around 5 minutes. Set aside until the bean finishes cooking.
4. Once the beans are soft, add the sofrito and stir for around 2 minutes.
5. Cook for an extra 10-15 minutes in the pressure cooker for the sofrito to blend well.
6. Then, sautee for 10 to 15 minutes or until creamy.
7. Enjoy!

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