Huevos Rancheros

I LOVE eggs and beans.  Love love love! This is my version of huevos rancheros ("ranch eggs").

Ingredients:

tortillas (I used small corn tortillas)
shredded cheese
eggs
refried beans (I use THIS recipe)
pico de gallo:
     tomatoes
     red onion
     cilantro
     lime
     salt

Directions:

Make pico de gallo: chop tomatoes, add as much chopped onion and cilantro as you like.  Add lime and salt to taste.

Set oven on broil (high).  Put oven safe pan over medium high heat with a little oil.  Put tortilla in heated oil and wait a minute or two then flip it over.  Sprinkle some shredded cheese (I just used white cheddar) on the tortilla...you can try to keep to the edges so when you crack your egg it had a bit of a barrier.  Turn down the heat a bit.  Crack an egg on the tortilla.  Then place pan under the broiler and keep it there until your egg is at the doneness you desire. 

Transfer egg/tortilla to plate.  Top with salsa and serve beans on the side.  DELICIOUS!

Homemade Refried Black Beans (Slow Cooker Prep)

I love refried beans...especially black.  I hate cooking dried beans the old fashioned way in a pot.  Enter slow cooker.  Now I make these all the time and freeze them for lunch and dinner.  My whole family loves them.  My husband (who is a self proclaimed refried bean hater) repeatedly steals bites from my bowl and spreads a heavy layer on his burritos.  Turns out, he hates canned refried beans.  These are clearly NOT canned beans!

Find the prep for cooking dried black beans in the slow cooker HERE. I add some time to the cooking when I am only using them for refried beans because I find a slightly overcooked bean lends itself to being blended easier.  I do 5 hrs on high or 8 hrs of low (often overnight). 

Blend your beans with cooking liquid (doesn't matter how much, it will be cooked out) and put in pan on medium-medium/high heat.  Add salt, chili powder and whatever else you think you'd like your beans to taste like.  You can taste and adjust along the way.  Cook down till you get the consistency you like. 

You know what else I love about these beans? The "fried" part isn't real.  There's no fat!

Chili

This is my favourite chili.  It's my mom's.  It's one of her recipes that I've never altered.

1 1/2 lbs of ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 big clove of garlic, minced/grated
1/4-1/3 c chili powder
2 tbsp cumin
salt and pepper
red chili flakes
1 big can crushed tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1/2 packet salsa seasoning (I can never find it so have only used it once when my mom put it in my cupboard)

Brown beef; add onion, green pepper, jalapeno, garlic, saute till veggies soft.  Add spices + salsa seasoning.  Add tomatoes, beans.  Simmer for 2-3 hours minimum- stirring occasionally. 

Great with my cornbread recipe.