It's the first day of fall and nothing says cooler weather more than a big bowl of pinto beans simmering on the stove.
This past weekend, on our thankfully lazy Sunday afternoon, I cooked a dish we all grew up with around my house called Cowboy Beans. This dish was made famous by my mom because anytime she placed the word cowboy in front of a dish, my brothers would eat it up and so would I.
The name just sounded rough and tough....something surely we should eat and always did. Moms of little, rowdy boys like my brothers have to learn what works and naming her food seemed to do the trick.
Pinto beans are one of those one pot meals that you can make and allow to cook all afternoon. The pinto beans in this recipe had not been presoaked the night before to tenderize the beans. Just follow the directions on the back of your beans package for the 'quick cooking' method. However, if you do presoak your pinto beans you will reduce your cooking time by half.
You may chose to use your pressure or slow cooker to make this dish even easier. Just follow their cooking directions for similar recipes.
Adding ground beef, pork, or turkey to these pinto beans makes this a meal chalked full of extra protein. I baked some homemade cornbread with a square pat of real butter making us all pretty content and full by that evening. You can get a recipe for my Jumbo Mexican Cornbread here, but I'd cut the recipe down by 3/4 as this recipe is for a huge crowd! Of course you can always freeze the cornbread.
Click here on the link for our Cowboy Beans to get the recipe where you can copy, share by email or to save in your files.
This recipe can be served on top of rice and is always better the second day when the flavors seem to continue to improve. Reheat Cowboy Beans on your stove or in your microwave oven the next day.
We hope you'll enjoy this simple dish that is a family favorite on our ranch and a favorite of my childhood. It's one of my husband's favorites that we cook all fall and winter long.
Alise - The Ranch Kitchen
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