Dagmar you add potatoes to beans for flavor and sauce thickener. If I don't want to peel or have potatoes available,I add a tablespoon boxed potato buds (mashed potatoes) and thickens the sauce and gives a great flavor. Also I add a pinch of sugar like my grandma used to do and it enhances the flavor even better.

Adding sofrito and some recaito to this dish would complete it the Puerto Rican way. Sofrito is tomato cooking paste that you can find in the GOYA or Mexican section at the grocery store. Recaito is a cilantro cooking base that is also found in the GOYA or Mexican section. They don't need to cook for long so you can add it as you go along, to taste.

Its Culantro not Cilantro!

In regards to Crystal's comment about the sofrito; Don't forget that sofrito is mainly onion, green pepper, garlic and cilantro...and perhaps sweet peppers where available. The difference with the sofrito is that the ingredients are puree. So, to this recipe you only need to add the cilantro to make it like sofrito. I would add a piece of ham or a piece of salt pork. Also, a chicken bouillon. Sazon is too salty if adding ham or salt pork and chicken bouillon. For coloring add "achiote (annato)" or a few shakes of "Bijol", which has cumin. You may add black pepper to taste. I do not add potato to my beans. Potatoes are just to make servings bigger.

This recipe falls way short for authentic R&B Rice. I add cajun style andouille sausage, cubed red ham, cubed white potatoes, lots of cumin and a little bit of red pepper sauce. Man it is good!

Yes i thought the same thing...no spanish seasonings

This recipe does NOT have the puerto Rican seasoning in it. Add packet of sazon, 1 tsp. adobo and 1/4 cup sofrito.