Pumpkin & Pomegranate

No tortillas were harmed in the making of my "fajita"

Every Wednesday M comes over to my place for dinner. I look forward to it all week because I get to be creative in the kitchen for someone other than myself. I tend to show love with food preparation, and he is the lucky recipient. The night before last he was sweet enough to help me get my car into the shop, and so on the way home we discussed dinner for tonight.  A friend mentioned Mexican food to me the day before, and I remembered that I still had about a pound of pinto beans in my pantry and so I came up with the idea to make fajitas.

I get a little nostalgic every time I make refritos. I am originally from Houston, TX and I grew up eating Tex Mex. Refritos (or “re-fried” beans, as they are mistakenly called) are a staple of Tex-Mex and have been a part of my diet since I can remember. My mother used to pack my thermos with bean and cheese burritos when I went to school. I would open up that well worn (and broken) thermos and see those 2 halves of burrito squashed inside. I remember it quite well, as the thermos had been through the dishwasher and so the insulation puffed up at the top. The burritos never really retainer their heat, and so the melted cheese always solidified pressed up against the plastic, and they were only slightly warm at best. Even so, I loved them. My mother was also a fan of beans for breakfast, so I am no stranger to the breakfast burrito, and I still eat a bowl of refritos and eggs for breakfast when I have them.

The dilemma hit me when I decided to lose weight. My mother used to make her own beans from pre-cooked beans in a can (Trappy’s to be exact), but when I went off mammal Trappy’s had to go (lard). We started to buy re-fried beans in a can. I get about as excited about these as I do cranberry sauce in a can. They are NEVER as good as a restaurant (and it isn’t the lard). I did find a dehydrated version that was excellent, but you could only find it at H.E.B. and well, I live in Seattle now and that just isn’t possible. I needed a good recipe for refritos, so I went to the web. I did a search and I came across the most delightful blog. The Homesick Texan is written by a lovely Texas transplant, and it amazes me how many of her blog entries are so close to my heart! Amazingly it seems as though simple is best. Her recipe is so basic it seems incredible that I couldn’t have just figured it out by myself. For some reason I thought there was more to it, and there just isn’t. Now, having said that, I cannot eat her beans ;-) I don’t do pork, so pork fat and bacon are obvious omissions. I also have a spicy tooth and so I have my own additions BUT I do have Lisa to thank for teaching me that simple is often best, and she was also my first blog ever to read. Yep, she introduced me to the blogosphere ;-) so I thank her for that!!! Even though I don’t eat most of the things she blogs about I still get homesick for Texas when I read her blog, and I make a point of keeping up to date with it. She also makes a killer flour tortilla, and if I had time tonight I would be making M a plate of them. Unfortunately for him it is a work night and so he gets store bought.

Refritos

I usually use jalapenos in mine, but since I was making this for M (and he is not a chile head like I am) I decided to go without. He later told me I should make them how I like them. He is a sweetheart ;-)

As per usual, I use the virgin coconut oil in this. I am sure people everywhere are horrified, but my body thanks me. I also have gotten away with making this without oil, but you need to “fry” the onions in water and watch them VERY closely.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry pinto beans
• 1 large sized  onion
• 1-3 cloves garlic
• salt to taste
• 1-2 T. Virgin coconut oil
• 3 Jalapenos (optional)

Method:

1. Rinse and sort through beans for stones, broken beans, or beans that just look like they have gone to the dark side.
2. Soak beans for at least 6 hours. After soaking, discard the soaking water.
3. Put beans into the crock pot along with half of the onion (do not chop it, just leave it in one piece as you will remove it after cooking and it is easier to get out this way). Add enough water to cover plus 1.5-2 inches over the top of the beans.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours or until beans are tender and can be mashed.
5. Remove the onion, strain the beans, but reserve about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
6. Chop the other half of the onion and mince the garlic.
7. Saute the onion and garlic in a skillet along with the virgin coconut oil. Be careful not to get the oil too hot. Cook the onions until translucent. Remove from heat.
8. Transfer the drain beans into a food processor. Add the onion-garlic mixture,  salt, and process until you get the desired consistency adding the reserved cooking liquid if necessary.
9. If you want to add heat and flavor, slice the jalapenos, saute them in the pan, and then pour the beans back into the pan to combine. Cook for a few more minutes so jalapeno flavor can permeate the beans.

Veggie Fajita Filling

Asparagus isn’t exactly traditional Fajita filler, but M isn’t a big fan of squash, so we made do. If I had had chayote squash that would have been perfect here.

Ingredients:

• 1 Onion
• 2 Anaheim peppers
• 1 Lb. Asparagus
• 2 Zucchini squash
• 2 Portobello Mushrooms
• 2 T Tamari
• 1/3 tsp. Cumin seeds

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Prepare and slice your veggies
3. Lay veggies in baking pan, and sprinkle on Tamati and cumin seeds.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until veggies are cooked to your liking.

Jicama Sticks

Ingredients:

• 1 Jicama
• 1 Lime
• chili powder

Method:

1. Peel Jicama and slice into 1/4-1/2 inch sticks.
2. Squeeze lime juice over the jicama and toss to cover.
3. Sprinkle chili powder on top.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

I usually make this without the tomato, but I wanted to add a little bit of freshness to it. I also use a lot of chiles, but you could do this with less. I am afraid I have a bit of a problem when it comes to spicy food :-)

Ingredients:

• 10 Tomatillos
• 1 Medium sized tomato (optional)
• 3-4 cloves garlic (in their skin)
• 1/4 C dried chipotle peppers, or 4 chipotle peppers in adobo.
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Clean the tomatillos by removing their papery husks and rinsing the fruit.
2. Place tomatillos in a baking pan and broil in the oven until the skin blackens. This can also be done with a torch. Let cool.
3. In a heavy skillet, roast the garlic until the skins start to blacken. Set aside.
4. If using dried chipotle peppers, boil water and pour over the chiles to reconstitute. Let soak for about 20 minutes or until the chiles are soft. Drain and remove stems.
5. Clean the tomato and transfer to a food processor or blender. Add the roasted tomatillos, and the chipotle peppers. Remove the garlic from it’s paper and toss in with the rest. Blend until combined.
6. Season with salt to taste.

Dessert Smoothie
Ingredients:

• 1 large mango
• 1 frozen banana
• 2 C. Hemp milk
• 4 frozen Strawberries
• 1 chunk frozen Papaya

Method:
Add all ingredients to your blender and blend like mad!
(This is usually when I cringe and wish I had a Vitamix as my poor blender cannot take much.  M kept adding fruit, and I kept wincing thinking that my blender was going to go at any minute.)
I Poured his into a glass, and then I added 2 T of Vitamineral Green to mine. Mine did not taste nearly as good as his, but it was packed with nutrients. I didn’t get a photo of this as I was too busy drinking it ;-)

The Fajita Bowl

This is M’s “Fajita Bowl” he asked my permission to eat it in a bowl like he would do when alone. He prefers it this way and I just giggled because he thought to ask me. I of course just want him to enjoy his dinner.