Back with Beans and Beanalicious

It has been almost a month since my last post. I do have a valid excuse. We spent most of the first three weeks of September exploring the Warner Mountains in NE California. We had not internet and no cell reception that whole time. I will post about that next, it will take more time. 

Since one my readers is sick of looking at my last post about kale pesto I wanted to get something out quickly ;-)

Upon our return from camping I took off for a weekend yoga retreat at Mount Madonna. This is pertinent because I got a ride home from this retreat with Elizabeth Borelli. She has just come out with an interesting sounding cookbook, aimed specifically at busy mothers. See the information below. I plan to read it soon !!

 The name of her book Beanalicious, made me want beans. So this week I put together a stew that is a cross between Tortilla soup and Gina's beans. It came out great. I made it with the pinquito beans, which are similar to pinto beans. I used the spices from the tortilla soup. I tossed in a large chopped zucchini, when I sauteed the onion and red peppers and several cups of my roasted tomato sauce when I set it to simmer.

Here is it undressed. Bob ate it this way for lunch today, in fact I don't think he even heated it !!

 The bowl below looks like a taco which is my favorite part of tortilla soup, you can top it just like your favorite taco. I used avocado, warmed corn tortilla pieces and a little cheddar cheese. I could have added salsa, fresh cilantro, sour cream, hot sauce, sliced black olive etc... you get the idea.

As the cooler weather sets in, it's good time to get back to making beans !!

Gina's Beans

Last week on my way home from LA, I stopped in Lompoc to visit family and break up the drive. My brother made a wonderful dinner of carnitas and Gina made beans, from scratch (that is one of those things I wish I did more often).

Turns out Lompoc has their own bean store, which I plan to visit next week !!

Anyway, Gina made these beans from the bean store using their recipe. They went so well with the pork and tortillas, I was inspired to make my own version to serve upcoming dinner guests. I made a couple of the ingredients from scratch which made this recipe more of a process.
You can certainly use canned items and still make great beans.

Gina was kind enough to give me the rest of her dried beans, this her birthday week, so I am naming them after her.

Here's Gina.

Gina's Beans
( I used yellow beans, the recipe mentioned pinquito beans, I am sure pinto beans or even black beans would be great.)
Ingredients:

2 cup dried beans soaked

1 cup tomato puree or fresh tomatoes

1/2 cup roasted green peppers ( or 1 Can (7 ounces) diced green chilies)

1/2 red onion chopped

1 large clove garlic chopped

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tablespoon salt

1) Look through the dried beans for any rocks, rinse them, then cover them with water, cover and let soak overnight.

2) Rinse the beans again. Place in a large pot. "Add enough water to cover beans with 1" of water." I wasn't clear what this meant, my beans had a lot of liquid. Next time I will be more careful about this part.

3) Add the rest of the ingredients, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to cook on low to medium heat. Cook beans until soft. Depending on the beans, it will take approx. 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to cook.
Next time I am going to try them in the crock-pot.

I made my own tomato puree from roasted tomatoes.

I also roasted an assortment of peppers.

Here's the red onion.

Here's the finished product.

I served them as part of a taco bar with: corn and flour tortilla, spanish rice, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, and cabbage, grated cheeses, sour cream, black olives, guacamole, salsa and roasted squash.

Whew, it was hard to make tacos that would close ;-)
We were so excited to be eating them that I failed to preserve the meal in photos...oh well.