Refried Beans

I borrowed this picture from The Pioneer Woman blog because it looked the most like my refried beans when I went to Google images looking for a photo. Why didn't I take my own? Because I'm lame and because we ate the bowl of refried beans before I remembered to take a photo. Yeah, I'm awesome like that.

Ree's beans are consistently the same color. Mine? Not so much. Mine were made from an assortment of beans not just pinto beans. My blog friend Linda grows beans on her farm in Colorado and succumbs to my painful and repeated begging her for beans every fall. She puts about 5 different types in ziptop bags and mails them to me. I open the box like a kid receiving a Christmas gift. I open each ziptop bag, spill the contents into a big bowl, and let those wonderful silky beans slide through my fingers. I like the feel of them. By the time I'm done they are all a jumbled mess. Since, I'm lazy I don't separate them back again, I just toss them into a jar. The jar full of beans is very colorful. Just like my refried beans.

So in reality mine didn't look like Ree's much at all. Mine weren't all the same color. They were much more colorful.

Colorful and tasty.
That's the way I like things.
It's what I keep telling JR I am.
Colorful and tasty.
Come on, I meant that innocently.



Refried Beans

2 cups dried beans (I like pinto or black or a combination of whatever I have on hand.)
water
1/2 onion, chopped into big chunks
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons salsa, approximate
1 tablespoon cumin, approximate
1 tablespoon chili powder, approximate
2 tablespoons olive oil, approximate
salt and pepper to taste

• Put beans in a large pot. Cover with water, about 2 inches over the beans. Toss in onion and garlic.
• Bring to a boil.
• Turn down heat and simmer for 2 hours or maybe a little more. (Go bathe the cat. It's what we did. Yes, there is and will be a story about this.) About half way through the cooking I like to drain the beans, add new water and start again. I find that if I do this step the family is not quite so gassy. Trust me. This is a necessary step at our house. It keeps the peace.
  
• When the beans are nice and tender transfer to a large bowl. Reserve some of the liquid.
• Pull out your trusty potato masher and start mashing.
• Continue mashing while adding a little of the liquid and the olive oil.
  
• Add all the other ingredients if you'd like. We like ours a bit on the spicy side so everything goes into the pool.
• Keep mashing and adding and adding and mashing until you get the beans into your favored consistency. I like mine lumpy. (why shouldn't my beans match my hips?)
• Serve warm or cold.
  

Give them a try. They are yummy personified.

It's Monday so try to make it meatless. Or really any day this week would be good. I don't discriminate.


Love,
M