Pink beans, baby! If you’ve never had pink beans, you’re in for a nice surprise. They cook up fast (no presoaking required!) and are really tasty. This easy recipe is even easier if you have vegetables already prepared to toss in (I used leftovers from the fridge), and has a nice little bit of ‘kick’ with the jalapeno and chili. The flavors go really nicely with Cumin Rice. I also made a simple fresh vegetable salad with vinaigrette and some homemade flatbread for sides. Hey, why not?!

Pink Beans
1 lb pink beans, sorted and rinsed
water to cover and cook

approx. 1 cup french style green beans (or 1 can)
approx. 1 cup leftover cooked sliced carrots (if adding raw carrots, slice ‘em up and put ‘em on in with the beans early in the game so they’ll get tender in time! )
Or you can use vegies of your choice – leftover, canned or fresh.

2 tsp salt (or a little less)
1/2 tsp hot chili powder (or a little more if you like it hot)
2 tsp ground cumin (or a little less)
2 tsp oregano

1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1 – 2 Tbsp. olive oil or other vegetable oil

1. Cover beans with water and boil about 3 hours or until tender. If adding raw vegetables rather than precooked, gauge cooking time required for them to become really tender and meld with the beans. Add partway through the bean cooking time – before the halfway point is about right. It doesn’t hurt for them to simmer a little extra time. You don’t want them to still be ‘crunchy’ when the beans are done!
2. Add salt, chili powder, cumin, and oregano.
3. In separate pot, heat olive oil and carmelize onion (cook until it turns light brown). Add garlic and jalapeno and saute until tender.
4. Stir into beans and let simmer for about 15 or 20 more minutes.
5. Serve over plain, or (even better!) Cumin Rice.