So, my 6-year old will eat many different foods, she just typically doesn’t want them on the night I prepare them.  The one exception is BURRITOS!!!!  I wrap anything in a tortilla (with the exception of the Avado- that’s new) and call it a burrito, she eats it.

When she was itty bitty she called refried black beans “brownies” and would suck them down like daddy’s shop vac.

So, here is MY recipe for Refried Beans.

Ingredients:

• EVOO – in a Pampered Chef mister
• 2 cans of beans (Black, Red, Kidney, Pinto, we don’t care)
  
• 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro leaves shredded or chopped small
  
• 3 cloves of fresh garlic minced
  
• 1/4- 1/2 cup of minced carrots
  
• 1/4-1/2 cup minced onion
  
• (I have been know to shred zucchini and other veggies and include them as well—shhhhh, don’t tell my family)

Directions:

• Spray your iron skillet down with some EVOO (yes we always use cast iron – it is the ORIGINAL non-stick wear.
• Sauté your cilantro, carrots, onions, & garlic (feel free to add others) The goal is to soften them up, not brown them.
• Pour in you beans with liquid (be careful they don’t splash out onto your floors)

• Smash your beans with your potato masher while they heat up in the pan.
• Use a wooden spoon to mix up the mashed beans and to keep them from burning in the pan.

• Continue to stir intermittently with your wooden spoon, scraping off any bean mixture that adheres to the bottom of the pan. (That’s the tasty stuff)
• When the beans become thick and no longer fill in the pan when you scrape it with your wooden spoon they are ready to eat.
• Remove pan from heat and allow to cool some so as NOT to burn your mouth on molten beans.

Sorry, the steam was very thick, you can just see the black stripe down the middle of the pan in the right picture… The beans are done.

Alternatives:

I usually prefer to use dry beans because there is less salt, no preservatives, and no BPA, but this night I had procrastinated and needed to get dinner done.

To use dry beans I typically pick a pound of beans (again, type is your choice – I don’t recommend green beans)  Rinse them off then allow them to soak in a large bowl over night with at least 3x as much water as beans.  In the morning, rinse them well, place them in a slow cooker, fill cooker with water and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Then just substitute for the canned beans above.  Easy Peasy!

How we use them!

Can you guess who’s burrito is who’s?

For more information on eating healthy and improving your health through diet, feel free to contact me.