Hello! And welcome to the 34th post of Pizza Rat's Paradise.
This was my first attempt at cooking with pinto beans.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 pack of pinto beans
1 pack of corn tortillas
Spices for pinto beans as desired
1 jalapeño
1 red bell pepper
1 fresh salad pack
Water (enough to cover everything in the pot)
Oil for warming tortillas (or whichever method you prefer)
Directions:
I soaked the dried pinto beans overnight.
I cooked the beans in water on the stovetop, first boiled, then simmered low for at least 2 hours -- I didn't have the typical aromatics (garlic, onion, bay leaf) -- but I DID find a leftover Shin Ramen spice packet and sprinkled some of that in.
Roasted jalapeño and red bell pepper, chopped them up and added them into the bean mixture.
Pureed the bean mixture into a paste, which I spooned onto a warmed, greased corn tortilla.
(For each tortilla, I warmed in my tiny little carbon steel skillet -- after some tries, I liked each one to be a little crispy with slight brown blisters that puff up, a tiny bit of sheen from the oil. I'm taking a page from when I learned origami -- to get each one as consistent as possible -- obviously not perfect, but similar enough.)
Sprinkled on some salad bits, then croutons, drizzled on some salad dressing, bits of cheese, Sriracha, and presto!
Ended up with a vegetarian taco - with beans as a source of protein.
It was the first time I ever made such a thing -- the taste test verdict?
It tasted like a healthier, vegetarian version of Taco Bell. Looking into the history, from a brief web search, Taco Bell originated out of San Bernardino in 1948, by entrepreneur Glen Bell, who learned how to make hard-shelled tacos from Mexican restaurant Mitla Cafe. Very cool!
It wasn't bad at all.
It's very easy to assemble, skills-wise.
Personally, I'm still not a fan of pinto/refried beans, but I was at least able to get these down in this form. I've tried pinto beans in numerous settings/forms before, especially in a burrito, and I just cannot do it. Oh well.
I would like to thank & credit the Community Food Bank of San Benito and their amazing volunteers for providing ingredients for this wonderful dish.
If you have made it this far, thank you for reading! 💚
Appreciate any suggestions on what I should do next. If you would like to collaborate or support, feel free to comment, share, like below.
Accompanying Song: