Nutritious re-fried beans

Okay so re-fried beans have this unfortunate and un-true reputation for being a sinful unhealthy snack...? Even the Canned stuff is just beans salt and water most of the time! ...of course I personally think the canned Refried beans smell like dog food... So NATURALLY I found me a winner of a recipe!

This recipe comes all the way from Mexico! ...okay, all the way from the little old Mexican lady who works at the little Mexican shop on henderson highway.... But she is legit! 

Curtis and I are huge Mexican fans. You would think my dairy free lifestyle wouldn't allow for that, but it's surprisingly easy and tasty to have Mexican without cheese or sour cream. My secret? These re-fried beans! They are so flavourful and creamy smooth that they easily replace the cheese. 

These were my ingredients. Peppers, garlic, onion, beans, oil and salt. 

Start by chopping up your veggies. 

Did you know there are male and female peppers? I learned this one from my uncle. Male peppers have three humps and females have four. 

Cut them open and the female peppers have more seeds than the male ones. (It's hard to tell with these cause these ones are very small and both don't have seeds really...). Female peppers are sweeter and better for eating raw and male peppers tend to stand up better for cooking. In my case these ones are both being cooked cause they are getting wrinkles... :)

I usually use one large or 1-2 small peppers, 1 medium onion and 2-4 garlic cloves (depending on how garlicky my mood is)

Chop the peppers about the same size as your onions. Nice and small. 

If you want to use some hot peppers to make it spicy, add them here. The little Old lady from the store told me that if you are using fresh peppers you need to use all fresh peppers. If using dried (like in enchilada sauce where you use dried ancho's) then you would use dried hot peppers too. The consistency this way makes a difference in the end flavour. 

Next put 1/4 cup of coconut oil in a pan and start frying (this is my personal reduction from 3/4 cup). In this batch I actually used canola oil because you really can taste the coconut oil in this recipe (which I love but my husband and extended family, not so much!). I often will make a batch of these and freeze portions for myself since my husband is a coconut oil hater... :) there are just some things you can't sneak it into. 

So use your preferred frying fat here. I hear grape seed oil is good for frying too (higher smoke point) but I haven't owned/experimented with it yet!

Fry it up till it's good and soft like this. You want your peppers well cooked and your onions clear. 

You can also add some sneaky ingredients here, just cook it in well.  Eg: I have put kale in these and my husband didn't notice other than the color (which I just told him I used a green pepper). Even after I told him it was in there, he liked them. You could easily incorporate spinach, zucchini, squash, etc...

Rinse and drain your beans and add them here. You can use any kind of beans. Usually I use black since that makes the nicest end color, however in this case I was out, so I used kidney beans which taste the same in the end, but give a lighter color, which can sometimes throw people off. 

Next add 3/4 cup of water to the pan and bring it to a simmer to heat it all up. 

Next just throw it all in your blender with a bit of rock salt and blend away!

You can eat these by the spoon full, use on quasidillas instead of cheese to hold things together, in burritos, enchiladas or my personal favorite, layer them with beans, beef (or bison), peppers, onions and a bit of cheese ---bake--- then top with tomatoes and shredded lettuce!! Yum!!! Serve with chips, pita wedges, or even over some Wild rice for supper!

Nutritious re-fried beans:

1 can black or kidney beans

1 med onion

1 large bell pepper (green tastes best)

2-4 cloves garlic

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup water

Dice your onion, garlic, and peppers. Fry in the oil until very soft. 

Rinse and drain the beans and add to the pan. Add the water and bring to a simmer to heat throug. 

Put everything into your blender with some salt, and blend until smooth. 

Use as desired.