What To Do With Pinto Beans?

[GRITSinMS]

I keep getting all these dried pinto beans in a food package and I need some ideas for new ways to cook them other than the traditional plain pot of beans recipe. Any suggestions?

[PrincessPerky]

Taco beans..add taco sauce, roll in a tortilla with cheese and such just as if it was a beef taco.

Add to mac n cheese for variety of taste.

Make chili with half pinto half kidney beans

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Drain, mash, (fry if you like), and fill in burritos. I was pleased to find that my picky eater niece, age 5, would eat bean burritos, even though she rejected beans any other way.

The UK-ers sometimes spread mashed beans on toast.

There is an Indian chip or crisp that is made from beans mashed and spread very thin, but I have never made it and don't know the name, sorry.

There is a delicious Afhgani soup that uses just a sprinkling of beans, and I understand kidney beans are typical, but that any bean will do. If you google Afghani recipes/food, you are sure to come across this soup.

They can be mashed and added to a certain type of homemade bread. I believe the Mennonite More With Less cookbook has a recipe.

You can turn them into bean dip and serve with raw vegetables or chips.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Oh yeah, they can be an ingredient in a cold bean salad that uses things such as green beans, wax beans, garbanzos, etc. I actually have a note tagged to my stove hood reminding me to make a bean salad, 'cause it keeps looking good to me canned in clear jars at the grocery. Definitely let this marinate in the fridge a couple of days before serving.

[kilcher]

We usually end up making something like this...

VeggieBoards - Vegetarian Blog and Forum » Taco Soup from the Pantry

[threebeansalad]

Mash and use as the bottom layer of a bean dip recipe. I often make layered dip with layer of brown rice and serve it as an entree (in which case rice is the bottom layer). The other layers are typically: chopped tomatoes, shredded cheddar, low-fat sour cream and guacamole.

[mom-from-missouri]

I soak and cook down in the crockpot with some onion, ham and also add a few other type of beans as well.