Thursday, July 12, 2012

Recipe of the Week: Haystack Beans

I buy this HUGE bag of pinto beans, but I never know how to make them taste good until my friend, Lynn, shared this great recipe with me! Thanks, Lynn!

  • Sort and rinse 2 lbs of dry pinto beans (4 cups) 
  • Soak overnight in lots of cool water (I used the crockpot-unplugged)
  • Drain and rinse.  Put in freezer for a few hours and then take out for a few hours to thaw.  This helps with digestion and makes the beans less gassy (I think!).
  • Add to crockpot with about one inch of water and cook on high until soft (6-8 hrs) with bay leaf.
  • Drain liquid off after cooking
  • Saute 1 large onion in olive oil with 1 recipe Taco Seasoning (see below).
  • Add onion, 1 small can tomato paste, 1 T brown sugar and sea salt to taste.
  • Mix well!
Taco Seasoning:
1 T. chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper (used less)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

You can make several batches with one bag of pinto beans and save a lot of money!

This recipe can be used for anything that you need refried beans for, but in a much healthier way!  We use it in burritos, salad (haystacks),  and mixing it with salsa for a yummy chip dip!  I also mixed these beans with avocado and fed it my little girl.  This freezes well.  Just heat up with a little liquid.  Enjoy!



Haystacks

2 comments:

Alison said...

I love Mexican flavoured beans. Tacos, burritos, enchiladas...they're all delicious!! Gotta love a recipe like this that makes so many meals in one.

Anonymous said...

I just learned at a recent cooking school that for the best digestibility, boil dried beans for 2-3 minutes, cover and let soak overnight. Discard the soaking water, which will flush away about 75-90 percent of the indigestible sugars. If you don't have time for that you can do the quick soak: soak the beans for 1 hour after boiling. "Simply soaking the beans in cold water removes only a small amount of the complex sugars that cause flatulence." Wow, so there you go! It may have been the freezing that helped with the digestibility then... Also, for those who can't tolerate beans even cooked this way, she suggested to sprout them! Just put in jar about 1/4 up, fill with water 1/2 way up and soak overnight. Discard water and rinse, repeating a couple times a day, more if hot, until you begin to see sprouts! Improves the nutrients, too, though I haven't tried this method yet. (this is from Lynn!)