Refried Beans Saga – With A Recipe!

It’s a scandal. A disgrace. At the very least, a bit unusual. The term ‘refried beans’ to me conjures up a vast cauldron of mush that’s been deepfried for an eternity, transferred to another pot with an inch of lard in it then stewed for another lifetime before a nice bit of shallow frying as a finishing touch.

In fact it turns out that not only is there no ‘re-frying’ going on in the process, there’s virtually no frying either and believe it or not refried beans, that great staple of Mexican food, is actually a really healthy dish.

I’d been eating refried beans out of a can for years (not straight out of a can you understand, I’d generally heat them in a saucepan first) before my local store began stocking a ‘vegetarian version.’ A vegetarian version – you mean what I’ve been eating all this time wasn’t vegetarian? Holy hell, is nothing sacred?

But it seems that the very miniscule amount of shallow frying that is required to make this marvellous misnomer of a dish is going to require an oil of some sort. And that’s where the problem lies. Whilst I may think that using anything other than a light dash of extra virgin to saute some onions would be akin to heresy, not everyone agrees with this approach - least of all whatever Mexican genius came up with it in the first place.

So to be sure I knew exactly what was going in there, I decided to try my own version. It’s very easy, seriously inexpensive and the humble pinto bean, which is at the dish’s heart, is very high in protein and fiber. Weighed against these plus points is the time factor. Raw pintos require an overnight soak beforehand and need a good hour to boil, but if you’re prepared for that Mexican feast, and I generally am, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

So the scandal and disgrace I mentioned at the start is not the fact that some canned varieties are not veggie, but the fact that this wonderful side dish to my home-rolled tortillas and Armstrong Guacamole (more on that later) has been maligned as a fried food. Fried and refried! Balderdash!

Now before I take my martini, here’s a recipe. As a side dish, this will feed four. But in my house it’s three because I’m a pig.

How To Make Refried Beans From Scratch

1/2 lb raw pinto beans (amount as shown in picture above)

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp cumin

1 onion finely sliced

Olive Oil

Make sure the beans have soaked overnight and that there was plenty water because they’ll expand. The next day, drain the beans and give them a good wash. Place them in a pot, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cover the pan and simmer on a low heat for an hour or until they’re soft.

Heat another pan with a dash of oil then add the onion. Sweat on a low heat for a few minutes until they’re soft too. Everything’s soft in this recipe.

Drain the beans then get your masher out and get busy. You can add some water to get the right consistency.

Add the fried onions to the mix and stir in the spices. Season to taste, make sure it doesn’t dry out, give it a final stir, then you’re ready to go.

I’ve been experimenting with the spices. You can use coriander, chilli, cayenne pepper and cardamom and oddly enough even Italian herbs such as thyme, sage and oregano work really well. It’s a free for all in my kitchen.

And if you really are too lazy to do refried beans from scratch, here are some excellent Organic Vegetarian Refried Beans.

- George

Tweet This Post