It’s October which means we’re well on our way into football season! That means Facebook will be full of yummy ideas, recipes, and pictures of food and décor for the games. Because let’s face it, most of us love either the game or the gathering of friends and food! I happen to be all about both! We have the opportunity to take part in both every time the Arizona Cardinals play away games at the in-laws. Grilled food, chips, dip, veggies and anything else people feel like bringing.
Beans are a staple in any house for any occasion. They are inexpensive and easy to cook if you know what you’re doing. This is my version of lazy beans because soaking beans for 8 hours overnight is just too hard for me. I’m also too lazy to make them in a slow cooker. I know, me, of all people! I can’t even believe it! I will say this. Beans have brought back a dying art in my kitchen. It has reintroduced the pressure cooker into my day to day cooking.
While some may shake their heads and call me crazy, people of my generation just don’t really cook with a pressure cooker. They were for my parent’s generation. But they truly are AMAZING and more people should have one in their kitchen, especially if you have children and no time to cook. They are ideal for cooking tougher meats because the meat comes out just as tender as if you bought the high end cuts. Totally worth it. And it just cuts the cooking time down to nothing.
The first suggestion for this dish would be to buy your beans in bulk. You can buy beans prepackaged, but it’s so much cheaper bulk. I’m almost positive I paid less than 50 cents a pound for this batch of beans. Once you get your beans home, (bulk or prepackaged) you need to sort them. You want to take out all the split beans and watch for rocks. For storage, I like to keep them (dry) in pint jars. It’s a perfect 2 cup serving for this or any other recipe so I never have to bother with it again once it’s on the shelf.
One final tip when making beans in a pressure cooker. Remember to always cool under water to “quick release” the pressure. Most meat dishes require that you let it sit and let the pressure dissipate on its own but it is not so for beans. This is handy because it allows you to check the beans and if they’re not done to your liking you can just put them back on the stove and cook them longer.
Ingredients
- 2 cups pinto beans
- ½ white onion (diced)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 4 teaspoons cilantro (chopped)
- ¼ teaspoon each: cumin, pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (add after cooking)
- 6 cups water
Instructions
- Put the beans in a bowl or pot and cover with hot water. Cover and let sit for an hour.
- Drain the beans and add all the ingredients minus the salt to the pressure cooker. Seal the top, add the weight, and put it on medium high heat.
- Once the weight starts to shake, lower the heat to between med-low and medium. The weight shouldn’t jiggle constantly, just a few times a minute. (jiggling constantly means your heat is too high) Start your timer here for 50 mins.
- Once the timer goes off, put the pressure cooker under water to instantly lower the pressure. Once you’re able to take the weight off, take the lid off carefully and check the beans for desired doneness. If they are not done to your liking, just seal it back up and cook them, bringing it back up to pressure, at 10 min intervals and always do the instant pressure release.
- Put the pot back on the stove uncovered, add the salt, and simmer for about 5 more minutes. Serve with your favorite game day eats like chili or cornbread!
Notes
Nutrition: WW PP 2; Calories 115; Total Fat 0.4g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 298mg; Potassium 460mg; Total Carbohydrates 20.8g; Dietary Fiber 5.1g; Sugars 0.9g; Protein 7.0g