Beans! Part 3

I did it! I continued on with the Cooks Illustrated recipe for Cristianos & Moros and it was completely worth it! I don't think I've ever seen my wife enjoy any version of rice & beans nearly so much. I apologize that this post is spread across 3 postings, a complete ingredient list is given at the very end of this post.

So continuing from Beans! and Beans! Part 2, at this point, I had already soaked the beans overnight (1 c. black beans in 2 quarts water + 1 1/2 Tbs salt), then rinsed them the next day and put them back in the dutch oven and simmered with 4 c. water, half a bouillon cube, 1/2 onion (whole), 1/2 head garlic (whole), 4 bay leaves, 1/2 bell pepper (whole) for 30 min until the beans were just soft. *By (whole) I mean don't chop any of those vegetables up! Remove the bay leaves and veggies when the beans are done. Drain the beans, SAVING THE BEAN STOCK. You can leave the beans in the dutch oven in the fridge for a couple of days until you're ready to continue with the recipe if need be. 

To finish cooking:
Take the beans out of the dutch oven. Do not clean the dutch oven, but let it come to room temperature (if it's coming out of the fridge). While it does that, you can prep the veggies and rice:

1 large onion halved, chopped into 1/4 in pieces (or 1 whole med onion)
1 1/2 green bell peppers, chopped into 1/4 in pieces (I used 4-5 small yellow bell peppers!)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c. long grain rice
canola oil
1-3 Tbs tomato paste (or salsa? I used homemade catsup... yep all about emptying the fridge out!)
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
2 Tbs red wine vinegar

1) Adjust the oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat to 350o F. Rinse the rice under cold running water for ~1 1/2 minutes until the water runs clear. Shake to remove excess water. Set aside.
2) Place dutch oven on stove top burner and heat to medium. Pour in canola oil (2-3 Tbs?) and saute the onion until browned and soft (15-20 min with lots of stirring). Add in the bell pepper, garlic, oregano, and cumin and saute until the pepper is softened. Add tomato paste and rice, stirring to coat for ~30 sec. (if you need to add a bit more oil to keep things from sticking to the pan during this process, it's fine, add more oil!)
3) Stir in the beans, 2 1/2 c. reserved bean cooking liquid, vinegar, and 1/4 tsp salt. Bring contents to a simmer (may  need to turn up the heat on your stove), but stir a couple of times to make sure there is no burning on the bottom of the pan. Cover and put in the oven. Bake for 30 min (liquid should be absorbed and rice cooked). Fluff with a fork and leave covered for 5 min, then serve.
Lime wedges and tortillas go excellently with this meal.
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Total ingredient list:
1 c. black beans (uncooked)
2 c. water
2 c. broth
4 bay leaves
salt
1 large onion
2 large green bell peppers
1 head of garlic
1 1/2 c. long grain rice
canola oil
1-3 Tbs tomato paste (or salsa? I used homemade catsup... yep all about emptying the fridge out!)
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
2 Tbs red wine vinegar