post the beans!!!!

ok slow beans! it's not a real recipe so much as just a set of loose ingredients and a dream. but here's what you need:

canned bean of choice. anything you'd put in a chili. usually i do black beans but this time i did pinto bc that's what i had

onion

pepper of some variety. i like poblanos but bells work just fine

tomato of choice. usually i do real tomato but this time i did tomato paste bc i didn't have any tomatoes. you can also use canned tomatoes (crushed, diced, whatev) but you probably don't want a full can

spices (cumin, paprika, chili powder, chipotle powder, chili flake, garlic, oregano, basil, etc. again: anything you'd put in chili) (use fresh garlic if u feel like it bc it will be better that way but i'm lazy & badia garlic parsley is my best friend) (salt & pep also obvi)

nutritional yeast & soy sauce!

citrus juice of choice. lime is ideal but lemon is also good

water/stock

it's been a while since i made this properly but i seem to remember that generally i do a half onion/half pep per can of beans but i think it's a full plum tomato? half a tomato? i don't know do whatever you want. i've also used cherry tomatoes for this. but this time around i did a full onion and full pepper and just one can of beans and as noted above tomato paste. i also added corn to my batch today

OK so dice up your veg. throw the onion in a pot with some oil or butter and let it get a little translucent & then put in your pepper (and fresh garlic) and let that cook a little. then if you want you can add your dry spices now so they can toast a little on the aromatics before you add wet stuff. now you put in your beans and tomato and some water! probably about a half cup to a cup of water. see how you feel. OH PUT IN CHICKEN STOCK HERE INSTEAD OF WATER! i forgot to do that this time!!!! i can't believe it! anyway you want it to be a little soupy bc it's gonna cook down. now you can add soy sauce and nutritional yeast. this is for UMAMI! it will help you make "meaty" beans. this is one of the best cooking tips i've ever learned, i put soy sauce in almost every bean thing i make. it's awesome. don't salt this until after you taste it with the soy sauce in. and don't forget the lime juice. taste it again to see if you need to add anything else. now you're just gonna let this simmer for a while, the longer the better. it's gonna cook down so if you need to add more liquid you can! usually i let this go at least half an hour. if you don't have a long time to let it cook probably go for tomato paste bc it incorporates quick- ideally your fresh tomatoes will break down nice over the long simmer. (this is why i call them "slow beans.") after you're tired of letting it sit around/when most of the liquid is gone (you still want SOME) go at it with a potato masher or the back of a spoon and get it mostly squished up until its kind of paste-y. these can be kind of wet or kind of dry, both are good. ok! it's done! you can use this in tacos, quesadillas, nachos, rice bowl, mix it in queso for dip, whatever. ENJOY YOUR BEANS!