Rice n beans (but not boring)

1/2 lb dry black beans soaked overnight 1 green pepper finely diced, divided 1 medium onion finely diced, divided 4 cloves garlic minced 1 bay leaf 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp smoked paprika 1/2-1 tsp salt 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1/2 tbsp sugar or a squirt of honey Rice to serve Cilantro for garnish

Rinse the soaked beans and put them in a pot with like half a liter of water, half the green pepper, half the onion, half the garlic, and the bay leaf Bring it to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for ~45 min. 3/4 of the way through cooking prep the sofrito. Heat the oil. Add in the rest of the onion and green pepper. When they're both soft (~5 min) add in the garlic and cook for like a minute. Add the cumin, oregano, & paprika. Cook it and stir it constantly for like 30 sec to a minute. The spices should be nice and fragrant. Add the sofrito to the beans and add the salt. Cover and simmer for like 30 min. Start boiling water/stock for rice. Add the vinegar and sugar/honey. Stir and simmer for 15 min. If there's a lot of water still you can cook uncovered to cook off the water out.