Jamaican Jerk Black Beans and Mushrooms

Since being on the low iodine diet, I have been eating lots of raw and interesting foods.  But, I have been wanting to make some Jerk Beans or Jerk Chickpeas for a while now.  I got the idea in my head to make them, but really wanted to when I saw a plantain at Food City.  I got it, and the Jamaican Jerk seasoning by Spice Hunter.  I think I could endorse them.  I do love their blends.  But, being on the low-iodine diet, I cannot have soy of any kind, including soy sauce.  Luckily, I found a recipe for something called Oriental Sauce through ThyCa.org.  This is a great replacer for soy sauce, and I think it made the sauce better.  I could just be telling myself this, but I don't think so.  You can find it on page 24 of their free cookbook.

I served them up with some fried plantains that I fried in coconut oil and some cooked quinoa.  They were so good!  The one thing that I wish I could have done was add a little more habanero pepper to mine.  This is something I can rememdy in the future.  I wanted to add a little more meaty depth, and so, I added some portobella mushrooms.  They give a meaty heartiness to food.

This does have some heat, even if you only put 1 habanero pepper in it.  I love some heat, and next time will be putting some more habaneros in.  If you don't like plantains, I would make some sweet taters on the side.  I made two different kinds of sweet taters the next night, but Dad ate one kind before I could take a picture.  I'll try again tomorrow!

Ingredients:

1-2 habanero peppers, seeded and diced (seeds hold the heat.... get rid of them or it'll burn you alive)
4 Tbsp. oriental sauce
6 Tbsp. agave nectar
4 Tbsp. brown sugar
5 tsp. Jamaican Jerk seasoning
4 cloves of garlic, diced
4 green onions
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
zest of 1 lime
juice of 2 limes
zest of 1/2 of an orange
juice of 1 orange
1 c. soaked black beans
2 portobello caps or 6 baby bellas, diced

Directions:

1. In a blender, add everything but the black beans and portobello mushrooms.  Blend until smooth.
2. In a container, marinade the black beans and mushrooms overnight in the jerk sauce.
3. The next morning, add marinade, black beans, and mushrooms to a slow cooker.  Cook on low heat.
4. Once it becomes dark and thick, they are ready to eat.  Grab a bowl, and chow down!

You can serve this with brown rice if you want, but I really love quinoa with it.  The plantains are so good if you get them when they are ripe.  And I did try to bake them once... note, I only did this once.  It turned out so bad.  So, lesson is, fry them if you are going to eat them.