Victoria Janssen

I’ve never posted recipes in this blog before, though I did in my LiveJournal, a while back. This sudden urge to chat about food came from a Twitter discussion.

So in honor of fall, and pumpkins, here is my quick and easy recipe for Pinto Beans and Pumpkin. I like this one because it involves things I keep on hand. I’m not a total wimp; I have cooked beans from scratch; but oh, how I love the convenience of canned, cooked beans.

Pintos and Pumpkin

You might want something to go with the beans and pumpkin. If you use rice, cook a batch separately – start it before you start the beans. Cornbread is also good with this; you can decide if you want it to be spicy or not.

Ingredients:
–1 can cooked pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
–1-2 cans pinto beans, preferably two, but depends on the depth of your pan
–oil
–garlic
–onion powder or onions
–salt, cayenne, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, mombasa pepper, black pepper

Cover bottom of pan with oil (last time, I used a garlic-infused oil, eked out with olive oil). At medium heat, add a good pinch of cayenne (optional unless you’re me), onion powder or chopped onions, and minced garlic. Simmer until garlic and/or onions appear lightly browned. The cayenne will toast a little, too.

Add canned cooked pinto beans, undrained, and stir into the spicy oil. Add canned cooked pumpkin; a spatula helps to get it out of the can. Add a dash of salt. The beans and pumpkin will likely be a solid mass. Add water until you can easily stir the mixture. Stir. Lower heat and simmer.

While simmering, add in more spices: a mix I’ve liked includes about a teaspoon of cinnamon, maybe a half-teaspoon each of coriander and cumin and mombasa pepper (it’s a variety of cayenne–you can use regular cayenne if you like). Black pepper gets added when it’s all done.

Simmer for a minimum of fifteen minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally if it bubbles too much. This is a forgiving dish, so it can be simmered longer if you like, or if you get distracted; unless all the liquid boils out, it will be fine.

Serve over rice or with cornbread. Or eat alone.

Try for leftovers. The flavor improves overnight.