Jalapeno Bacon Baked Beans

A friend mentioned watching a restaurant throw out the juice from jalapenos, he suggested they soak bacon in it. I liked the idea immediately, so came up with this.

1     cup        Dried Pinto Beans

1     whole    Onion 

1     can        Diced  Tomatoes

1      can       Diced Green Chiles

2      Tsp       Crushed Garlic

2      Tsp       Stone Ground Ingelhoffer Mustard

2                   Bay Leaves

2      Tbs       Brown Sugar

1-1/2 cups    Diced uncooked bacon

2      Tbs       Diced Jalapenos with juice

.Combine diced bacon, Bay Leaves, Garlic, jalapenos, and brown sugar in covered container, and let marinate for 2 -24 hours. I marinated for 4 hours. Cook soaked beans in appropriate amount of water until tender. I cooked mine in a pressure cooker  for 17 minutes.preheat oven to 325. Drain Bacon mixture, and cook enough to render fat but leave bacon tender, remove fat. Now drain beans, combine all the ingredients, and place in covered casserole, and cook for 2 hours.

I chose bacon because there was no ham hocks at the store, but any pork product would work from sausage to ham. 

Quinoa and Beets

I love Quinoa, and probably don't use it enough. I harvested some beets this week, and decided to make some salad. I cooked one cup of Quinoa, and let it cool. I boiled the beets for about an hour, until tender, then cut them into 1/2" cubes. I then mixed everything together, and served on a steamed bed of Swiss Chard.

1    cup       Cooked Quinoa

1    cup       steamed beets, cubed

1/2 cup      Gorgonzola, or other blue cheese broken up

2 TBS        Macadamia Nut oil

2  TBS       Balsamic vinegar

fresh thyme to garnish

Some additions; walnuts, onions, scallions, shredded carrots.............