Sunday, March 28, 2010

Cooking out of the pantry: Portobello Tacos, Refried Beans and Rice


Check out my lunch today. It was superb! Portobello tacos, rice and beans. I wanted to make refried beans from scratch weeks ago but never got around to it because I had other things in mind. This weekend seemed just right for it. The bag of pinto beans in my pantry was calling my name as well as another item from my pantry that I forgot to add to my list: a bag of dried New Mexico chiles. I have a book called "The Power of Ancient Foods" and there is a recipe for red chile sauce that I planned to make along with the refried beans. I cooked my pinto beans in the crockpot overnight so they'd be ready this morning. (My crockpot has a new name: "The Bean Machine". I don't use it for anything else anymore.) So anyway back to the beans, I sauteed some onions and garlic in olive oil, added the cooked and drained beans, mashed them up and let them simmer with salt, pepper, about a cup of the bean cooking liquid and a touch of liquid smoke. I don't think I can enjoy canned refried beans ever again! The beans were stellar, just like in a restaurant. The rice was wonderful as well. Fresh guacamole and lime wedges made it all complete.


I've never had mushroom tacos before and I'm glad I tried this. They were so meaty and juicy. The red chile sauce was really nice.

Portobello tacos recipe here.
Mexican rice recipe here.
This short video shows pretty much how I made the red chile sauce.

Pantry staples used:
dry pinto beans
dried new mexico chiles
rice
tomato sauce
corn tortillas
herbs/spices: cumin, oregano, cayenne

Items from fridge etc:
onions
garlic
cilantro

Items I needed to purchase: 2 portobello mushrooms and avocado

10 comments:

  1. Your food always looks so fresh and yummy....even out of the pantry~!

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  2. That all looks good. Homemade refried beans are the best.

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  3. wow these tacos look fantastic (like everything you make)... i think i will try cooking my refried beans your way next time they look great!

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  4. Wow, I have some pb mushrooms and this would be great to get rid of them...hope they make it til the weekend :-) Your dishes are alway inspiring...should start a YouTube channel showing your cooking.

    mppaul2

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  5. mppaul2,
    Thanks for the compliments! I'm way too shy to be making videos of myself!

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  6. This is fantastic for only needing to purchase two items, and it looks so fresh and delicious. I sort of tried to do a "pantry cleanse" this week, but when most of my goods are grains it means a big produce bulk up!

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  7. kmouse!
    your beans look great. how'd you get them so smooth?? FP? Immersion blender?

    xo
    kittee

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  8. Woah. That's a perfect plate of food, right there!

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