If I were being real I would add the word “casserole” to the title above. But, I’m trying to be sophisticated.
Friends, there is a little battle going on at our house. We are at war with meat. I have such conflicted feelings about meat. The truth is, the older I get, the less I like it. And every few weeks I’ll say to myself, “That’s it. I’m done with meat. I can’t do it anymore.” I’ll be fine until, and only until I crave a really good burger. For some reason, hamburgers are the only thing from the meat family that call to me. Don’t know why. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. It has very little to do with the recipe below, other than it contains no meat. Below is a beloved week night vegetarian dish. Mollie Katzen is a genius of all geniuses who makes vegetarian cooking taste like heaven. I have a crush on her. Below is her cheese-beans recipe that I make on Tuesday mornings, so I can throw it in the oven on Tuesday nights.
Are you struggling with meat? Have you given it up entirely? I’d love to hear about it.
Cheese Beans
6 cups cooked pinto, black, or kidney beans*
2 cups chopped onion
2 large cooking apples, in chunks
2 cups grated mild, white cheese (muenster, monterey jack, or mexican blend)
4 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 1/2 tsp. salt
pepper
Combine onion, butter, chili powder and mustard in pan. Saute until onion is soft and clear.
Combine cooked beans with sauteed onions and all remaining ingredients. Pour into large buttered casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes. Serve with fresh corn bread (they can bake together). If you don’t have time for the cornbread, serve with tortillas chips.
*I am obsessed with dry beans lately, so I do add an extra step of pre-cooking my own beans then adding them to the recipe. I like cooking my own beans because I can control the sodium content and to be honest, they just taste better. If you get them done just right, they melt like butter in your mouth. Nothing tastes better than homemade pinto beans that fall apart in your mouth. Nothing. But if you don’t have time for that nonsense, you’ll need three (15 ounce) cans of beans.
Cheese Beans and Cornbread. They bake together. So healthy. So yummy.
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Very much at an impasse with meat, and we have been for a while. I really enjoy meals that are bean and vegetable based so much more. I’m absolutely sick of chicken. But then, like you, every once and a while I need a good piece of something. And, I find that my kids really need me to feed them meat every so often too. I guess there are plenty of vegetarian families that would tell me that’s bogus, but we have enough fights over eating dinner that I don’t need to add one more….
I’m pretty much done with meat, but I’m the only one in my family. So, we’ll do a beef dish and a chicken dish each week. The rest I try to do vegetarian.
I always have bad luck cooking my beans. I never get them soft enough. Any tips?