Baked Beans

A "Viewer Request" today: baked beans. This recipe doesn't even call for pork&beans! Good baked beans are a great addition to a grilled dinner or your traditional backyard hamburger bash. I also love them as a lunch side dish, but this recipe is even hearty enough to stand as a main dish along with some brown rice and a salad.

Baked Beans

1/2 pound bacon
1 large onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp crushed garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
3 cans pinto beans (see note)
1 tsp liquid smoke (see note)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 can tomato sauce OR crushed tomatoes
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP hot sauce (optional)

1) Cut the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook in a large sautee pan until crispy. Remove the bacon to a plate lined with paper towel, leaving the grease in the pan.
2) Meanwhile, peel and julienne (slice very thin) the onion.
3) Over LOW heat, add the onion, salt, and pepper to the bacon grease pan and cook for about 20 minutes. Cover while cooking. Stir occasionally. Yes, it sounds like a long time--you're caramelizing the onions. They shouldn't hiss too loudly, and they should slowly turn golden brown and very soft.
4) Add the paprika and the garlic. Cook for about 1 more minute.
5) Drain and rinse the beans. Add to the onions and add all remaining ingredients, including the crispy bacon bits (or you can save that and top it at the end for a big finale).
6) Heat beans to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes. OR you can transfer to a baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes. OR you can transfer to a crock-pot and let simmer for about 1-2 hours, just until hot through and flavors are really melded beautifully.


Note 1: This recipe calls for 3 cans (regular size, at-the-grocery-store-type cans) of pinto beans. If you were starting with dry beans, it would be about 2 cups, soaked overnight in lots and lots of water, and then cooked thoroughly in boiling UNsalted water (about 2-5 hours). I love to cook dry beans in my crock-pot for about 6-8 hours on low (overnight is good too). I do a great big pot full and then you can freeze them as well. If you want, you can use other types of beans as well. I just recently made this recipe with 1 can of pinto beans, 1 can of great northern beans, and 1 can of black beans. The different colors were lots of fun.

Note 2 (ingredient of the day!): Liquid smoke. They make it by putting a little condenser and drip pan over giant hickory smoker. So quite literally, it is Liquid Smoke. You can purchase it on the condiments aisle in your grocery store, right by the other barbeque sauces and ketchup and hot sauce and whatnot. I love having it in my house. It is fairly cheap and you use only a little bit at a time. It is delicious, though! It's like instant barbeque. I make my own BBQ sauces with it (not all of them quite as complex as the aforelinked), put it in my marinades, add a few drops to chili, and then watch my family drool. While the bacon in this recipe and the smoked paprika add a nice smokey accent, it's really the liquid smoke that sets it apart. I highly recommend adding this delectable little treat to your spice cabinet today!

Green Beans

At a family reunion, I helped my mom come up with this recipe for green beans. We wanted a way to jazz up regular canned green beans so they didn't taste so canned. The same recipe can be used with fresh or frozen green beans.

Yummy Green Beans
2 cans green beans (or 1 pound *fresh or frozen)
1 tsp orange zest (fresh please!)
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp butter

Drain beans. Mix everything together and heat through. Can be heated in a crock-pot on high for about 1 or 2 hours. Enjoy! Makes about 6 adult servings.

*For Fresh green beans, Boil water. Wash beans and snap off the ends, then break or chop into about 1" pieces. Drop in the snapped green beans into the boiling water and let cook for about 2 minutes, until they are bright green but still quite firm. Remove from the water and let drain. Then add the other ingredients in a sautee pan and cook until the butter is melted and the dill and orange zest release an amazing aroma--about 2 or 3 more minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Black Bean Salsa; Cucumber and Melon Salad

This meal was fun to eat, delicious, refreshing, satisfying, and healthy. The Black Bean salsa is also great on scrambled eggs for breakfast, or on grilled meat for dinner.


Black Bean Salsa

1 cup cooked, drained, rinsed black beans
1/2 cup frozen corn
3 roma tomatoes, diced (leave juice in)
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced
zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 large avocados, diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp (or more) hot sauce
1/3 cup olive oil

Mix everything together and serve with tortilla chips.

Cucumber and Melon Salad
1 cucumber, sliced
1/2 honeydew melon, cubed into about 1" cubes
1 cup vanilla yogurt
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves, chopped

Mix together and serve cold.

Crock Pot Cooking Class

I recently taught a class on cooking in a Crock Pot. Most of us own a crock pot, but may not use it very often, or we get stuck in a rut with the same four recipes that we use over and over again. Here's a few recipes to pump up your arsenal, and maybe get you back in the swing of crock pot cooking.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
1 1/2 to 2 lbs round steak (can also use beef rump roast, or even chuck roast if desired)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 onion, sliced
1/2 tsp garlic
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 cups beef Bouillon
1 Tbsp catsup
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced, or a 4 oz can, drained
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sour cream

Cut meat into 1/4 inch strips. Coat with salt and pepper. Drop into bottom of crock pot with onion. Mix garlic, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, and catsup. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until tender. Turn to high. Add mushrooms. Dissolve flour in small amount of water. Add to meat mixture, stirring until blended. Cook on high for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream, turn off heat. Serve with noodles or rice.

Crockpot Brownie Pudding

• 1 pkg chocolate cake mix
• 1 pkg instant chocolate pudding mix (4 serving size)
• 1 pint sour cream
• 3/4 C. oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 C. water
• 1 C. chocolate chips
• 1 C. pecans -- toasted and chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Spray crockpot. Mix all ingredients and pour into crockpot.
2. Cook on low setting for 5 hours.
3. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Crockpot Senate Bean Soup

2 cans navy beans (or 1/2 pound dry, reconstituted with boiling water and left overnight)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 cup chopped ham
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 medium potatoes, chopped into 1 inch cubes
water

Layer in the Crockpot in the order given, pour in water just enough to cover the potatoes. Put on lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

Chimichangas

My terrific brother and amazing sister-in-law gave me a deep fryer for Christmas. It took its test run tonight making these tasty bean chimichangas, and it worked fantastically!

Chimichangas (also known as "Homemade Taco Time")

1 large can refried beans
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 tsp chili powder
8 taco-sized flour tortillas

Mix together the beans, cheese and chili powder. Evenly distribute between the tortillas, and roll them closed. Deep fry in 350 degree oil for 3-5 minutes, or until the tortilla starts to turn golden brown.

Fantastic creamy avocado dip

1 large Hass Avocado
Juice from 1 lime
1 cup sour cream

Mash the Avocado with the lime juice, mix in the sour cream. Serve with any taco, burrito, or with Chimichangas.

Note: if you don't have a deep fryer, don't want to dirty the house with hot oil, or you don't want all the fat, you can pan fry the Chimi's in a skillet with a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil, or even bake in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes. They won't be as tasty, of course, but such is the life of low-fat.

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili

1 cup dry Great Northern beans
4 chicken breasts
1 onion
1 can corn
4 carrots
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika (can substitute regular paprika)
4 cups water

The night before you make the chili, put the dry beans in a large bowl of water--at least 4 times as much water as beans. Let soak all night. The next morning, drain and rinse the beans. Put into a 4-quart or bigger slow cooker. Chop the chicken into rougly 1 " cubes. Chop the onion, peel and chop the carrots. Drain the corn. Then mix all the ingredients together with the beans in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours, or on low for 10. Serve with a spoonful of sour cream and cheese. This is extra tasty over garlic-cheese mashed potatoes:

Garlic Cheese Mashed Potatoes

8 medium russet potatoes
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack (white) cheese

Peel the potatoes and put in a pot, then just barely cover with water. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Drain well. Melt the butter, milk, and garlic in a microwave for about 30 seconds. Pour the butter mixture over the hot potatoes and mash. Mix in the salt, pepper, and cheese.

Notes on this recipe:
The chili recipe is very big. To reduce the size, cut the beans, chicken, and water in half. Leave the vegetables and seasonings the same.

I recently made the chili for a baby shower and we served it as part of a baked potato bar with different cheeses, broccoli, bacon, and sour cream. All of these would make great toppings for the chili itself.

If you just want a bowl of the chili, you can also stir in a cup of sour cream right at the end. Don't use light-fat sour cream; it beads up in the hot chili instead of melting in smooth.

Layered Enchilada Casserole

This recipe was inspired by my 2 1/2 year old son. He wanted to help cook dinner, so I had to think of lots of good jobs for little hands. He stirred together the sauce and loved tearing the tortillas into pieces and putting them into the pan. Choose any flavor or salsa you want. Corn tortillas would also work just fine.

Layered Enchilada Casserole

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp taco seasoning
2 cups (16 oz) salsa
16 oz container sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can red kidney beans
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
15 taco-size flour tortillas

Chop the onion. In a small skillet, brown the ground beef and sautee the onion together. Add the salt, pepper, and taco seasoning. While that is cooking, mix, in a large bowl, the salsa, sour cream, soup, and kidney beans. In a 13 x 9 inch pan, tear up half of the tortillas and place on the bottom. Mix the salsa mixture with the ground beef mixutre. Pour half of the sauce over the bottom layer of tortillas. Sprinkle on half the cheese. Cover with the last half of the tortillas, torn, then the rest of the sauce, and cover with the cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with corn chips crunched on top, if desired.

Cowboy Mac n' Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese is always a favorite with kids, and this version adds protien and fiber. Your family will be sure to enjoy, and it is a snap to make.

Cowboy Mac n' Cheese

2 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese, any brand
1 lb ground beef
1 cup whole kernel corn (1 cup frozen, or use 1 can, drained)
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine or butter (half a stick)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Boil the noodles from the 2 boxes of macaroni until tender, then drain. Meanwhile, make the sauce: brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. When it is done, add the remaining ingredients, including the 2 cheese sauce packets from the boxed macaroni (add dairy products last to prevent curdling). Toss in the noodles and serve while hot.