Easy crock pot Mexican "refried style" beans - HEALTHY EASY YUMMY CHEAP!

[K8-EEE]

Last edited Mon Jan 23, 2012, 07:45 PM - Edit history (1)

If you like refried beans but not all the salt, fat (and expense!) of the canned kind you must try these!

All you have to do is combine all these ingredients and let them cook on low 8 hours (longer is OK if you get home late!)

9 cups of water
3 cups dried pinto beans
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 small onion, peeled and halved
1 whole jalepeno (remove seeds if you don't like them spicy)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons of sea salt (or to taste)

Then drain them while reserving a small amount of the cooking liquid. Mash the drained beans with a potato masher (a whisk or a fork work OK too) adding a little of the liquid at a time until the consistency is right for you. Stir in a squeeze of lime if you like. Great as a side dish or for burritos.

[noamnety]

1. I've got a pot of beans on the stove right now

I made them even healthier by adding a collection of spices that help burn fat: cinnamon, cloves, turmeric, chili powder, black pepper (plus some random other spices).

You wouldn't think a person could be so excited about a pot of pinto beans - but I feel like a little kid at christmas.

[K8-EEE]

3. I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE beans and legumes of all kinds

and I feel sorry for people that don't!

[grasswire]

8. feel sorry for those of us who can't eat them!

Too many carbs, even though they are "good" carbs.

[kestrel91316]

10. One of my favorite meals as a kid was when Mom would cook up a pot of pinto beans with a ham hock,

served with a pan of fresh cornbread. Nirvana!

[Sienna86]

12. Me too. I still make this meal.

It's inexpensive and nutritious.

[maddezmom]

2. I'm going to bookmark and try as soon as I get through

my bean soup.

[Retrograde]

4. It's all in the spices

The best refried beans I ever had were in a small Mexican restaurant in Kingman, Arizona. I asked for the recipe, the the waitress said that nobody was really sure what was in them, as the owner's mother delivered jars of her top secret spice mixture every month and wouldn't divulge the exact contents. There was a lot of cumin, though, IIRC.

I'm going to try your low-fat recipe next time - they're really very simple, as long as you remember to start soaking the beans well ahead of when you want them.

[K8-EEE]

7. The great thing about the slow cooker is you don't have to soak

You can either put them on before bed and make them in the a.m. or in the a.m. and make them at night.

[eridani]

5. I freeze this in batches suitable for meals for two

I use a bit of olive oil for the refry part, though.

[K8-EEE]

6. I don't miss the oil initially but they do tend to dry out in the fridge so

The leftovers do get "refried" in a little olive or macadamia oil.

[eridani]

11. I've found that the oil seems to cut back on the drying out

I don't use a whole lot of it, and I figure olive oil is much healthier than lard anyway.

[wildeyed]

9. You had me at EASY.

But yummy and cheap are always good too! I love bean dishes, for all the reasons you mention. We eat them several times a week around here. Def give this recipe a try in next week's rotation.

[HopeHoops]

13. Soak the beans overnight first. They always turn out better that way.

You can also do a quick-soak (boil for one hour and let sit for two), but the overnight soak is much better.

[maddezmom]

14. Made them today

I mashed them up a bit while they were in the crockpot and then used my stick blender to mash them. I doubled all the spices but the salt, tho. Now I'm letting them cool and will divide them up so some can go into the freezer.

Thanks for this, I'll never buy canned again.