Mexican Refried Beans. So Simple and So Delicious.

I'm having a slight love affair with tinned pulses at the moment - they are such a good, quick, yummy staple for any meal (heated up with oil and garlic they are better than any mash on the planet).

So last week I made peri-peri chicken (basically you stuff peri-peri spice, garlic and butter under the skin of  a roast chicken before cooking) with guacamole and refried beans - such a fun Mexican alternative to your standard roast chicken meal.  The refried beans were delicious and so unbelievably easy to make.  And best of all you can use any tin of beans - the results are pretty much the delicious same.

Ingredients

1 tin of beans, drained and rinsed
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
olive oil
75 g feta cheese
corriander leaves for garnishing
2 bay leaves
2 vegetable stock cubes, or 1 tbsp powder
3 tsp cumin
salt and black pepper

Method

1. Heat a couple of tbsp of oil in frying pan, add the onion and garlic and cook over a moderate heat, stirring, until translucent and very soft.
2. Add the cumin and cook for 20 seconds then add the bay leave, beans, stock, 200 ml water and a couple of tbsp oil.

3. Allow to cook over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes with the lid off then mash roughly, adding more oil if its dry.  Season well.
4. Serve in the frying pan with the feta and corriander sprinkled on top.

How easy and yummy.