When I was travelling in Costa Rica with my girlfriend a couple of years ago I really fell in love with this dish. This is a typical Costa Rican dish you can eat as breakfust, lunch or diner. Well to be honest, it didn’t matter what time of the day it was, I just ate it.

Back home I thought this would be a nice dish to complement empanadas. So now, when serving empanadas on parties, I also serve some Gallo Pinto as a side dish. As an extra you can even serve some fried plantains with it.

Gallo Pinto is an easy to make dish and doesn’t take too long to make. This recipe is enough for 6 servings.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked rice
• 2 cups freshly cooked black beans
• 2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 table spoons cilantro, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to your taste
• 3 strips bacon, drained and crumbled (optional)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 tablespoon Worcester Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Tabasco Sauce (optional)

Preparation:

Heat up the oil in a suacepan or skillet and saute the onion and bell pepper. Add the beans and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the rice and mix well, cook for another 3 minutes. Add the Worcester Sauce, Tabasco Sauce and the chopped cilantro. Again mix well and cook for another minute. Garnish the gallo pinto with the crumbled bacon.