Simple Meal: Vegan Pinto Beans and Cornbread

Most of the flavor of traditionally made Texas-style pinto beans comes from meat and simple seasonings---salt pork/smoked ham hock and salt/pepper.  With this recipe, I use other means to kick up the flavor and replace the salt pork with a healthier fat source.

1 lb pinto beans, sorted, rinsed, and soaked in water overnight

at least 6 cups vegan vegetable stock or water

1 (16 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 small can Hatch mild green chiles

1 (10 oz.) can Ro★tel tomatoes & chiles

1 onion, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced (I've found the brightly colored peppers caused less burping than green bell pepper)

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon mesquite Liquid Smoke 

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground pepper

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp. ground cumin 

1/2 ground coriander

Generous amounts of oil (any neutral flavored oil like grapeseed, canola, or extra light olive oil)

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Additional cilantro to garnish

Sort the pinto beans, removing any weird beans, rocks, or bits of dirt.  Rinse the sorted beans under cool water.   Then soak them overnight with ample amounts of fresh, cool water.  Next day, drain beans.  Transfer beans to a large bean pot or electric slow cooker.  Add canned tomatoes, green chilies, Ro★tel, smoked paprika, mesquite Liquid Smoke, seasoning, oil, and vegetable stock/water to the bean pot.  Be aware that you may need additional liquid as beans cook.

In a cast iron skillet (cast iron provides trace amounts of iron to food), sauté diced onion and red bell pepper until tender with a small amount of oil.  Add minced garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes.   Transfer sautéed veggies to bean pot.

Bring the bean pot to a boil. Reduce heat to a slow, gentle simmer.  Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  If using a slow cooker (crock pot), cooking time will vary depending on whether you use the low or high setting.  When beans have finished cooking, add fresh chopped cilantro to bean pot.  Stir gently to distribute the cilantro throughout the beans.

Serve with sliced sweet onions, green onions, salsa, sliced jalepeno peppers, vegan cornbread, and/or vegan hoecakes (hot water cornbread).

***You may want to consider adding some additional protein like Morningstar Farms vegan steak strips, soy curls, TVP, seitan, or vegan sausage to the beans to boost the protein content.