Never Eat Flavorless Pinto Beans Again!

beans beans

the magical fruit

the more you eat ‘em

the more you toot

As a child, I was always afraid to eat beans, as I feared their magical powers, and was afraid that they would give me the uncontrollable need to toot in public.  As an adult, I realize that they’re really not all that bad, and in fact, I have grown to love beans.  Any kind of beans.  Red beans. White beans. Black beans. Navy beans (which aren’t actually blue). Garbonzo beans. Pretty much any bean you can name, I love.  However, the Hubster isn’t quite a cultured in the world of beans as I.  Don’t get me wrong, he loves beans, too, but for the Hubster, they must be pintos.  The Bunny eats literally anything that we put in front of him, so these beans are a winner with the whole fam.

I will add that flavorless beans are incredibly disappointing, so I have vowed to myself (and now to you) to always cook flavorful beans!

First, wash your beans in water, and pick through them, making sure that there aren't any rocks or anything else weird.  

Then put the beans in a big pot (or a Crock Pot), and cover with water. You can add more water later, so don't worry too much about an actual amount right now.

Also, I know that a lot of people feel the need to soak their beans before cooking.  If you have the time, great, but there is no "need" to soak them.

Then add a ham bone.  I go to Honey Baked Ham to get my ham bones, because they still have a lot of ham on them.  I mean, there is seriously a lot of ham.  There is enough ham that if we just wanted ham for supper, our little family could just go buy one of these ham bones, and be perfectly fine with it.  Plus, they are cheap.  If you don't want the bone in your beans, just get some kind of salty pork to put in there, but you take the bone out before you eat it, so you really shouldn't worry too much about the bone.  If you're vegetarian, just leave it out, but if you aren't, I wouldn't recommend it. Anyway, if you cook it long enough, the meat will all fall off of the bone, so your beans will just be flecked with ham... yum!

Slice up (or chop up) a large onion.

Throw the onions in the pot.  This is usually the point where I throw in some diced bell pepper, too, but when I went to grab my bell pepper to chop it, it was a slimy and fuzzy and gross.  Yuck!  Apparently it was in our produce pile for too long.

Anyway, you know when you go to Costco, and you see those huge jars of minced garlic, and you wonder who on earth uses that much garlic?  Well, I do!  Throw a bunch of that in the pot, too.

Cover, and let it cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours.  Then, after the beans have cooked, you can add some salt.  Instead of salt, I used Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, but if you don't like it (or don't have any), salt and pepper will be just fine.

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I ate mine with caramelized onion balsamic spread (because I just got it, and wanted something to eat it on) and green onions (because I had some left over from something else) on top, but they are good without either of these things.  The next time I had a bowl, I made cornbread to go with it, which was also great.  Either way, they are delicious, inexpensive, and easy to make.



Pinto Beans:

1 lb dried pinto beans

water to cover

1 ham bone

1 large onion, sliced

1 bell pepper, diced

4 tbsp minced garlic

salt and pepper (or Creole seasoning) to taste

Put beans in a colander and rinse under running water.  Remove any rocks, deformed beans, etc. Put beans in a pot, and cover with water.  Add ham bone, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to pot.  Cover, and cook for 6-8 hours, checking occasionally, and adding more water if needed. Once beans are finished cooking, salt and pepper (or add Creole seasoning) to taste.

Pasta with Marinara and Chicken Thighs

 Look what I got for my birthday!! ^^ A beautiful Dutch oven! Of course I've been using it like someone was about to come take it away, and I just love it. This is a super easy (you use a jar of marinara sauce), not-so-fancy recipe, that was just really yummy. 

 Start by thinly slicing an onion. 

 Put some olive oil in the Dutch oven, and get it hot.

 Salt and pepper one side of boneless skinless chicken thighs.  Until a few months ago, I really didn't like dark meat chicken (or so I thought), but I have recently discovered that I really like these "thigh filets" as they are called. 

 Put the seasoned side down in the hot oil, and salt and pepper the other side of the chicken. 

 When the first side is brown and crispy, flip it over and do he other side.  You aren't cooking the chicken through at this point. You're just cooking the outsides.

 Remove the chicken from the pan.

Throw the onions and some minced garlic in the Dutch oven, and let them cook for a while.  Let them get brown and soft (and maybe transparent if you have the time).

Put the chicken back in on top of the onions. 

Pour in a jar of marinara sauce.  I know that I could make my own marinara, and that it's not really that hard, but the stuff in the jar is pretty dang yummy, and just too easy, so I went with that.

 Cover, and put in a preheated 300 degree oven for an hour or two, 

Serve over some pasta.  Any kind of pasta.  It's so good!

If you don't have a Dutch oven, you can put the chicken, onions, and garlic in a pan to cook on top of the stove, and then in something different to cook in the oven.  However, I would really suggest investing in a Dutch oven.  I know that I've been cooking many years without one, but since getting mine, I have no idea how I did it!