Bean Recipes: Pairing Proteins and Beans

So you’ve got your jar of Randall Deluxe Pinto Beans, Great Northern White Beans or Mixed Beans. While bean soup or other main dishes are great, you want to let the beans be the back-up singers this time. What’s the best meat to pair your beans with? What goes with pinto beans and what goes with white beans? Are they interchangeable? We’ve got all the answers to your bean recipe queries.

Pinto Beans

Pinto beans have the most robust flavor of any of our beans. Because they’re so often paired with heavy spices like cumin and chile powder, they stand up well to darker, more flavorful meats. Try pairing pinto beans spiced with bacon and a little maple syrup with a thick steak, or make classic ranch beans to serve alongside some good-old-fashioned barbecue pork.

Great Northern White Beans

Our white beans are like a blank canvas. They can absorb nearly any flavor you put up against them. Because they are more delicate in flavor than pinto beans, try them with lighter meats. it’s a no-brainer to pair great northern beans with ham and pork, but try cooking your white beans with a little rosemary and putting them with grilled chicken for a smoky, delicious dish. Or add roasted tomatoes and serve them as a bed for a roast leg of lamb for a Greek-inspired dish everyone will love.

Mixed Beans

Mixed beans are the wild card. With so many different kinds of  beans in one jar, mixed beans are a great chance to develop some fantastic flavor. Why not try these all on their lonesome? Spice them up Indian style with curry and serve them on a bed of jasmine rice and some naan bread. Or toss them in a honey and cider vinegar vinaigrette and put them alongside a classic burger.

What do you pair your beans with?

Regatta Curried Mixed Bean Salad

If you’ve followed our blog, you may know that our daughter Lydia is a member of a rowing team. And a fantastic team they are, taking medals left and right. If you’re not familiar with rowing, it’s seriously hard work. Getting that racing shell to move through the water quickly, fighting against the current and the wind, is no easy feat. In order to get up to speed, you’ve got to have a good meal beforehand. Beans not only provide the proteins needed to create strong muscles, the energy they provide also helps these athletes push themselves farther than they thought possible. No matter what your sport, chances are you can benefit from this delicious bean salad recipe:

Regatta Curried Mixed Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 24 oz jar Randall Mixed Beans, drained
3  limes, juiced
1 orange, juiced
1/2 inch slice of ginger the diameter of a quarter, plus 11/2 teaspoons minced
1 cup red onion, minced
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon  curry powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup  grape seed or canola  oil
1 cup  cilantro leaves, packed then chopped

Instructions:

Pour juice and one of the ginger pieces into a sauce pan and boil until juice is reduced to about 3 tablespoons and is syrupy. Remove ginger slices. Add curry powder to warm mixture and let cool. In a mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients.

Refried Beans with Chile de Arbol

Chile de arbol, literally “tree chiles,” are a spicy Mexican pepper. In terms of heat, it’s about on par with cayenne pepper, so we’re talking a fairly spicy little pepper. Used with a practiced hand, it can add both delicious heat and flavor to any dish. We love to use it in refried beans, that spiciness cutting through the richness of the pinto beans. Try these refried beans a side dish, as a base for tostadas or burritos, or do what we did and make lettuce tacos, substituting leaf lettuce for tortillas for a crispy, refreshing treat.

Remember to always be careful when handling hot peppers–keep your fingers away from your eyes and wash your hands thoroughly with soap when you’re finished.

Refried Beans with Chile de Arbol (Refritos con Chile de Arbol)

Ingredients:

1 24 ounce jar Randall Deluxe Pinto beans, drained and liquid reserved
4 medium chile de arbol, minced (for a less spicy dish, remove seeds)
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt to taste

Instructions:
Heat oil and add chile and garlic and lightly cook. Add beans. Add 2 large ladles of reserved bean liquid. Mash the beans.
Simmer on low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve as a side dish or in your favorite Mexican bean recipe that calls for refried beans.

Pinto Bean Tostadas with Chorizo

Have you ever had chorizo? It’s a flavorful sausage common in both Spanish and Mexican cooking. It can add a savory, slightly spicy flavor to almost any food, and it’s a perfect pairing with pinto beans, naturally meaty and smokey. While pinto beans are delicious when just cooked with a bit of chorizo, here we’ve made tostadas, or flat tortillas spread with delicious beans and topped with your favorite Mexican fixings:

Pinto Bean Tostadas with Chorizo (Chori Tostadas con Frijoles)

Ingredients:
1 24 ounce jar Randall Deluxe Pinto Beans
1 chorizo link, casing removed and crumbled
1 package corn tostadas or tortillas
1 avocado, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
1 lime, juiced
Jarred salsa verde, to garnish
Queso Fresco, to garnish

Recipe:
In a pan, cook chorizo until the fat is rendered. Add beans with liquid. Cook until beans are heated through.
Spread bean and chorizo mixture on 4 to 6 tostadas. Garnish with avocado and tomato. Add queso fresco. Sprinkle with lime juice and salsa verde to taste. Serves 4 to 6.

What’s your favorite Mexican pinto bean recipe?

Pinto Bean Recipes: Frijoles Bandera

The Mexican flag is pretty cool. With fields of green, white and red, it features an eagle clutching a snake in its talons, which represents the founding of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City. These frjoles bandera (literally “flag beans”) capture the colors of the flag but are 100 percent snake-free. With sweet red tomatoes, spicy Serrano peppers and cool crema (or Mexican sour cream), these pinto beans are a delicious accompaniment to fajitas, tacos or any other Mexican recipe.

Frjioles Bandera

Ingredients:

• 1 24-ounce jar Randall Deluxe Pinto Beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 3 small Serrano peppers, diced
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1/4 cup crema (may substitute sour cream)
• Queso fresco, to garnish

Instructions:

Heat the beans through and combine with other ingredients. Garnish with crema and queso fresco. Serves 4.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Mexican Bean Recipes

Did you know Cinco de Mayo isn’t celebrated nation-wide in Mexico? It’s only a holiday in the state of Puebla. But we’ll take any excuse we can get to drink margaritas and indulge in some delicious Mexican food. Pinto beans are a staple of the Mexican diet, showing up as a side dish or a hearty filling in tacos, burritos and enchiladas. But sometimes you can get a little more creative with your Mexican bean recipes, capturing the authentic flavors of Mexico in a new and interesting way. Try these recipes on Cinco de Mayo and tell us how they were!

Mexican Pinto Bean Soup with Avocado Salsa

Spices form the base for this complex vegetarian bean soup. Coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper and smoked paprika work together with fresh chilies for a bright, spicy note, while deep dark chocolate gives the soup a richness and mystery no one will quite be able to figure out. Don’t worry, it’s not sweet–the chocolate gives just a hint of bitterness. Creamy pinto beans pair well with the mix of flavors, and just a bit of fatty avocado on the top gives the soup a silken texture.

Mexican Pinto Bean Falafel 

Falafel is a traditional Middle Eastern dish, usually made with chickpeas. But this interesting includes mashed pinto beans bound together with crushed tortilla chips and Monterey jack cheese. Form it into patties and shallow fry before tucking them into soft pitas with a delicious guacamole spread. It’s crunchy, creamy and a lot of fun.

Pinto Bean Mexican Pizza

Pizza and Mexican food–two great tastes that go great together? They do in this fun little Mexican pizza. Simply mash pinto beans and spread on pizza dough, topping with your favorite pizza fixings. This recipes calls for vegan products, but you can easily substitute the real McCoy.

The best part about all of these recipes? They’re all 100 percent vegetarian. But no one has to know. Just slide these onto the table come May 5 and your family will love your Mexican flair.

Pantry Sunday Night Bean Salad

Sunday night after a busy weekend with lots of meals on the go, the last thing I want to do is cook dinner or have another take-out meal. So it’s time to hit the fridge and pantry to see what I can toss in a salad.

Of course there is always a little lettuce on the bottom, but from there anything I can slice and dice is likely to make its way into the salad bowl.  Tonight’s dinner included:

1/2 cup Randall Deluxe Great Northern White Beans, rinsed

2 cups iceberg lettuce, chopped

1 can hearts of palm

1 can olive slices

1 can artichoke bottoms

1/2 English cucumber, sliced

2 Peppers ( one orange and one green)

Handful baby carrots

Win a Case of Beans in Our Pinterest Contest

Are you as obsessed with pinning as we are?  Pinterest is the social network that lets you share and keep the pictures that matter to you. It’s like an online bulletin board, and it’s completely awesome. If you aren’t already, make sure you’re following our boards. But we’ve got an even sweeter reason to follow us: you could win prizes.

Entering is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Create a board called “The Best Beans,” because the best cooks start with the best beans, right?

2. Pin the image below to your board. Make sure you include “@Randall Beans” so we know about your entry!

3. Pin at least three of your favorite recipes from anywhere on the web that include either great northern beans, pinto beans or mixed beans.

That’s it! We’ll choose a lucky winner at random who will receive a case of Randall Beans Deluxe Beans of their choice and a $50 Wal-Mart gift card. Winner must live in the United States with a valid US mailing address. Must submit your entry no later than May 14, 2012 to win. Get pinning!

Mediterranean Mixed Bean Salad Powers Athletes to Victory

There are few other foods that manage to fit so much nutrition into such a small package, making them the perfect food for prepping for an athletic event. Not only does the protein in beans give you lots of energy to run, jump and pull your hardest, it also helps build lean muscle mass, critical for strength training.

We believe in the power of beans so strongly, we make sure our daughter’s rowing team always has a healthy meal full of lean foods before they race. In this past weekend’s regatta, we prepared a simple Mediterranean mixed bean salad that helped the girls power through to second place in their 2-kilometer race. Way to go, ladies!

Try this easy mixed bean salad the next time you need a burst of lean, heart-healthy energy:

Mediterranean Mixed Bean Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 48 ounce jar Randall Beans Deluxe Mixed Beans, partially drained
• 1 cup grilled onions, chopped
• 1 preserved lemon, chopped
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
• Parsley and chives, for garnish

Dressing

• Dijon mustard
• Sherry vinegar
• Olive oil
• Orange juice
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk dressing together and toss with salad ingredients. Let stand for a few hours to let the flavors meld. Serve chilled or room temperature with a lean protein like grilled chicken or fish and wash down with plenty of water for hydration.

Perfect Bean Enchiladas

With Cinco de Mayo right round the corner, we’ll be featuring some of our favorite Mexican-inspired dishes over the next few weeks. After all, beans of all sorts feature prominently into classic Mexican cooking, whether they’re slowly stewed or used in a bright, fresh salsa. This week, we’re focusing on one of the most popular dishes we know: enchiladas. A tender tortilla wrapped around savory filling, topped with sauce and smothered in cheese–what’s not to like? Here are some of our very favorite bean enchilada recipes:

White Bean Enchiladas

This is your classic enchilada: pureed white beans mixed with cheese and chilis, wrapped in a flour tortilla and smothered in a sweet and savory red sauce and baked until gooey and brown. Top with more cheese and you’ve got a healthy, quick dish for a fraction of the price and calories as your favorite local Mexican restaurant.

Pinto Bean and Avocado Enchiladas

This variation is hearty and filling without weighing you down. Completely vegetarian, this dish combines creamy pinto beans, meaty mushrooms and crunchy cashews with rich, buttery avocado. Leave this dish totally vegan by skipping the cheese, or splurge a little and cover with your favorite Mexican cheese. We like pepperjack for a little extra kick. Top with sauce, bake and devour this treat.

Pinto Bean, Kale and Zucchini Enchiladas

Definitely a more non-traditional recipe, this version of the enchilada mixes in dark, leafy kale with sauteed zucchini and of course, pinto beans.  Add little jalapeno, a little lime juice and cumin, and you’ve got a dish that’s both familiar and totally new–not to mention healthy.

How do you like to eat your enchiladas?