Fresh Pinto Beans with Tomatoes

Fresh pinto beans arrived recently in my Greenling @greenling_com Local Basket. (More on Greenling in a later post.) Time to experiment!

Printable recipe

Ingredients

· 2 medium tomatoes, quartered
· 3 T olive oil
· 1 1/3 C fresh pinto beans
· 3 C chicken stock
· 2 slices bacon, diced
· 1/2 C onion, diced
· 1 clove garlic, minced
· 1/2 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and diced

 

Preheat oven to 400°. Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Coat with olive oil; salt and pepper to taste. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the skin begins to char. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Roasting the tomatoes brings out richer flavors, especially if your tomatoes are less than perfect.

 

Bring the stock to a boil, and add the pintos. If you don’t have fresh, use dried; just soak them overnight. But the fresh ones taste much more vibrant. Cook for 25-30 minutes, or just until tender. The beans taste best when they still have a little “tooth” or al dente texture. Drain well.

After the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skins.

While the pintos are cooking, render the bacon until crispy. Set aside. (Sorry…no photos of the bacon. I decided afterward that crispy bacon would add a nice crunch and saltiness.)

 

Sauté the onion in the rendered bacon fat for two minutes, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add the garlic and pepper and sauté another two minutes. (Yes, the photo has celery. It didn’t add much to the dish, so I removed it from the final recipe.)

 

Add the tomatoes and pinto beans. Stir gently until heated through. Salt and pepper to taste.

I hope you enjoy!