Frijoles Antioqueños — Colombian Bean Pot

Ingredients

• 3 cans red or black beans, one drained
• 1 ripe plantain, diced — the sweet secret
• 2 scallions + 2 tomatoes + 2 cloves garlic (hogao again, the everything-sauce)
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 tsp cumin
• 3 cups stock
• Rice, avocado, and arepa, for the full bandeja spirit

Method

1. Make the hogao: scallions, tomato, and garlic cooked down saucy in oil with the cumin.
2. Add the beans, stock, grated carrot, and the diced plantain.
3. Simmer 35–40 minutes, mashing occasionally, until creamy and thick — the plantain melts in, sweetening the pot from inside. That whisper of sweet is the paisa signature.
4. Season with salt, decisively.
5. Serve with rice, avocado, and an arepa on the side. The heart of the bandeja paisa, standing proudly on its own — Medellín in a bowl.