After my last post about making beans from scratch, it may come as a surprise that in the past whenever I’ve had a hankering for refried beans, my own methods were on the low-key side. I just popped some pintos or black beans into my food processor, added garlic, paprika, and cumin and gave it a thorough blending. My “refried beans” were oil-free and worked well enough for stuffing into burritos or sliding between taco shells in double decker tacos (a whole wheat tortilla wrapped around a crispy corn shell stuck together with refried beans). However, they lacked that pillowy texture that you find in real restaurant-quality refried beans.
Enter Viva Vegan’s Home-Style Refried Beans. These light beans have the consistency of mashed potatoes and could easily be eaten on their own with a spoon. (Guilty as charged.) I made one minor adjustment on the recipe and reduced the oil in the beans to one tablespoon instead of two. Much of the liquid in these beans is simply water, and I think a person could use no oil at all (just sautéing the vegetables in a tablespoon of water instead) without losing any flavor. The beans are packed with the flavors of sautéed garlic, onion, jalapeño peppers, cumin, oregano, and chili powder. They are slow cooked for twenty minutes and then mashed until smooth.
I don’t have to tell you what to do with refried beans. But I will. Roll them into a whole wheat tortilla with some chopped onion, hot sauce, and cilantro and carry it to work for lunch. When lunchtime comes, microwave all of it together for a warm handheld bit of comfort food. Biting against the soft tortilla and being met with creamy refried beans is heavenly. Add a dollop of refried beans to Mexican rice or barley. For a hearty snack or appetizer, make a layered dip of refried beans, avocado slices, olives, and chunky salsa.
My preferred salsa is my husband’s creation, his own fresh and garlicky salsa:
Fresh & Garlicky Salsa
Serves 4
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh or jarred jalapeño peppers (or to taste)
- Juice from 1 lime
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp oregano
- Dash of cayenne
- Dash of black pepper
Combine ingredients in bowl and serve.
Those beans look delicious, I really like the tip about adding some to Mexican rice. And, that salsa is fab looking–bring on the garlic!
Thanks, Rose! I’ll keep the garlic coming!
Oh, YUM! That all looks so delicious, and I totally agree with you that refried beans are comfort food! I love them and use them a lot in refried bean soup and enchilada casserole, along with frequently making myself bean burritos ~ including for breakfast (a habit I acquired when living in New Mexico). If I don’t have or feel like making tortillas, I just eat all my favorite burrito ingredients (refried beans, leftover cooked brown rice, sriracha, avocado and homemade vegan sour cream) mixed together right out of a bowl. I’m shameless.
I’m always lazy with the salsa, using organic store-bought chipotle salsa, but I’m going to make your husband’s delicious-looking recipe next time! And I second what Rose said – bring on the garlic!
I appreciate your notes about making refried beans without oil, since we don’t cook or eat foods with any added fats. I sauté in water all the time, so I’ll definitely try your method of making superior refried beans!
I also love bean burritos and tofu scramble burritos for breakfast. It’s something that I picked up living in Southern California in addition to adding cinnamon in my coffee. You put sriracha on your burritos? That’s kind of brilliant. I save it for my Thai stir-fries but why not spread the hot sauce wealth? I hope you enjoy the salsa!
Well, the breakfast burritos idea came from my actually paying attention and learning something. Whereas putting sriracha on my burritos came from that hearing sriracha is really good, finding and buying some, and then having no clue what to do with it. So I ended up doing all these really creative, inventive (okay, some might say “weird”) things with it like mixing it in my mashed potatoes, adding a squirt of it into my potato-leek soup, and spritzing it on my burritos.
My husband used to put cinnamon in his coffee all the time, I think he learned it out here in Wyoming from an old guy we knew who was originally from Pennsylvania but who’d homesteaded in the willywags of the Yukon Territory, so who knows where HE learned it!) But since we started drinking Teeccino and Dandy Blend instead of coffee a few years ago, he doesn’t do that anymore. Maybe we’ll have to try it with a dash of cinnamon tomorrow morning!
By the way, I love the adage you have at the top of your blog, “From the outside, veganism looks like limits. From the inside, freedom.” That’s brilliant!