A friend of mine brought me 4 or 5 lbs of pinto beans so that I could try them out. She said they are the best beans anywhere, and so fresh. I usually use store bought dry beans & sometimes canned, but was excited to give these a try. And as one of our FAVORITE foods are Refried Beans, I wanted to utilize the pinto beans for this - as most store bought have LOTS of sodium. The "low sodium" can I have in front of me says it has 610 mg of sodium for 1/2 cup of refried beans.. That is more sodium than I think is needed, and definitely more than my son should be having for 1 serving. So I decided that if I could make them, with little or no salt, and have them still taste good then we will be in bean heaven.
I cooked about half the beans.. I am not exactly sure how many lbs there were, I estimated. But it is a good amount of beans. I have a large crock-pot, and half the beans filled over half the pot. So at least 2 lbs, maybe 3. I sorted through them, making sure to get any out that looked bad, and checking for stones. Then I rinsed them a few times to remove any dust. These beans were very clean and pretty to begin with. And my friend said as they are so fresh there would be no soaking required. Hallelujah! I hate soaking beans for hours, then cooking for more hours. So being fresher eliminated at least the soaking part.
Once the beans were rinsed, I put them into the crock-pot on low, covered them with cool water until at least 2 inches of water above the beans. I did this later in the evening, maybe 8 or 9 pm. Then I left them to cook overnight. I got up once, and checked on them and they did need more water so added a couple more cups of water. When I got up this morning (I am usually up very early) they were done. I did not add anything to the cooking of these, just beans and water.
To flavor the beans and make them "refried" I decided to try the following:
Remember - I do not actually "measure" and so these are estimates.
1 large onion minced
3 garlic cloves mince.
juice from 1 large lime
2 tbsp Mrs dash fiesta lime seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp of onion powder
1 tbsp of garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp of ground cayenne pepper
I cooked the onion and garlic in a little (1 tsp) butter until they were translucent. When they started to get dry, to avoid adding more butter or any oil I used some of the juice from the cooked beans. While the onions cooked I started ladling the mostly drained beans into my food processor. I did have to add some of the liquid, to keep the beans from being too dry or "gummy". Most places I looked recommended just smashing the beans with a potato smasher, but I just figured the food processor would be easier on my hands ( I have arthritis so anything I can do to make it easier is a good thing). I used the pulse to get the beans "smashed" up to where I wanted them to be. Once the onions were done, I turned off the heat and added in the smashed beans. I did have to repeat the beans in the food processor about 5 times to get all the beans that I had cooked, and I was able to add them all into my large stockpot.
Once I had all the beans processed and in the pot with the onions and garlic,I turned the heat back on low, and I added the other seasonings. The lime and Mrs Dash were a later addition as I just felt the beans needed something, and I just did not want to add any more salt than I had - 1 tsp for as many beans as I made is not too much. But not enough to flavor them much either. The lime and Mrs Dash did the trick! Once everything was mixed in and heated through I did a taste test. Everyone in the house LOVED them, and were begging for bowls of refried beans for brunch. And I was happy to say "Sure, eat as many as you want."
Turkey and White bean stew -
2 lbs ground turkey
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 lb great northern beans
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 can low sodium chicken stock
1 can low sodium stewed tomatoes
5-6 pieces of curly kale. I use the long mature kale for cooking. not baby kale.
For Dinner we are also using beans. This time we are using white Great Northern beans. These were store bought dry, so I have soaked them already overnight in cool water in the refrigerator. Always seems they work out better for me if I do that.
I used about half a pound of beans. Checked, rinsed, and soaked. This morning I rinsed them again and put them into the crock-pot, covering them with several cups of water. I let the beans cook most of the day, until they were tender. Then I fried up some ground turkey, a diced white onion, couple cloves of diced garlic, some cumin, poultry seasoning, ground cayenne pepper, & onion powder. cooked this until the turkey was done, and then poured into the crock-pot with the beans. I added 1 can of low sodium chicken stock, 1 can of low sodium stewed tomatoes -drained- and a couple cups of water to the crock-pot to bring liquid level up to nearly the top. I then chopped up some curly kale, rough chop - large pieces and used the stems, then threw them into the pot too. I let this cook until the kale was tender. Then nom nom nom! It was pretty good. Kids ate it, but were not overly excited about it. I think it will make a great freezer lunch to have handy for work.
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