A Do Ahead Side

A couple of years ago at a church potluck, I saw a bowl filled with green beans and onions.  Normally, I would have ignored the dish -- I don't like beans with onions -- but the beans smelled delicious so I put a small serving on my plate.  After one bite, two things were apparent.  One, the beans were flavored with something besides onion.  Two, I wanted the recipe!

As the potluck wound down, I watched as people collected their bowls and pans from the food table.  When I saw Aaron, owner of the now empty bowl, pick it up off the table, I walked over and asked how he made the beans.  He graciously shared the recipe and I made the beans for the first time a few weeks later for Thanksgiving.

The recipe starts with a can of cut green beans.  The liquid is drained into a saucepan with some water, chopped onion and -- the ingredient that makes the beans so good -- adobo all purpose seasoning.

I wasn't familiar with adobo so I looked it up on the Internet.  My search yielded a lot of recipes for making the seasoning using salt, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder and chili powder, or some combination of these ingredients.  I didn't mess with perfection and bought a bottle of Goya adobo all-purpose seasoning with pepper which is what was called for in Aaron's recipe.

I assumed the seasoning would be with all the other spices, but I found it in the aisle with Hispanic food.  The Goya brand is available in many different varieties!

The liquid, onion and adobo are brought to a rolling boil for 30 minutes. During this long boiling time, the liquid is reduced, thereby intensifying the flavor of the remaining liquid.  

After boiling for 30 minutes.

The beans are added to the pot and simmered over low heat for 15 minutes.  You can add water, if necessary, but don't add too much or it will dilute the wonderful flavor of the beans.

The beans can be served the same day they're cooked, but I think they're better reheated the next day after the flavors have had time to blend.  You can reheat the beans on the stove, or in a crock-pot.  Using a crock-pot is a big help at the holidays, especially if there's not a spare burner available on the stove.  You also don't have to keep a constant eye on the beans since the crock-pot does all the work for you.

Green beans have always been on our Thanksgiving table, but now I fix them ahead of time.   When I'm cooking holiday meals, any dish that can be made ahead is something I'm thankful for!

Aaron's Green Beans

6 to 8 Servings

1 (28 oz.) can cut green beans

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 tsp. adobo all-purpose seasoning

1 cup water

Drain liquid from beans into a saucepan; add onion, adobo and water. Bring ingredients to a boil and let boil for 30 minutes.  If the liquid is reducing too quickly, turn the heat down.  Add the green beans and, if necessary, a little additional water.  Turn heat to low and simmer 15 minutes.  Let the beans cool and then store them in a covered container in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavors to blend.  The next day, reheat beans in a crock-pot on low for 2 hours, or until heated through.

© Margaret's Morsels

From Ho Hum to Wow!

My husband and I like a lot of vegetables.  Unfortunately, we don't like a lot of the same vegetables!  I love lima beans, but my husband loathes the legume.  He thinks black-eyed peas are the best, while I think they're best left at the grocery store!  I'm crazy about cabbage in any form except sauerkraut, but the only cabbage he'll eat is in the form of coleslaw.

One vegetable we agree on is green beans.  It's a side dish on our table more often than any other vegetable.  Most of the time, I just open a can of green beans and heat them in the microwave.  Since I fix green beans so often, though, I'm always looking for recipes that put an interesting twist on this old stand by.

When I first saw the recipe for Marinated Green Beans, I knew my husband would love it and I was right!  The recipe uses a lot of the same ingredients as the Green Bean Bundles I make every year at Christmas and Easter. Unlike bean bundles, the recipe is easier to prepare and less time consuming.  The beans need to marinate overnight, so you do need to plan ahead when you want to make these beans.

The original recipe called for canned green beans, but didn't specify what kind.  I use whole green beans because I like the size.

The recipe doesn't use Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, but the rest of the ingredients are identical to bean bundles, except for the amounts and method of preparation.

Instead of wrapping the beans in bacon and layering the ingredients on top, the butter, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic powder are combined and stirred into the green beans.  The seasonings can be adjusted to suit your taste.  If you want sweeter beans, add more brown sugar; for spicier beans, add more garlic powder. 

The bacon is diced -- the easiest way to do this is with a pair of kitchen shears -- and stirred into the beans.  If you don't want to add meat, omit the bacon; the beans will still be delicious.  Once everything is mixed together, refrigerate the beans overnight.  To evenly distribute the marinade, stir the beans a couple of times while they're marinating.

The beans take more effort than simply heating a can of green beans, but it's worth the work!  The marinade melds together and transforms canned green beans into a sweet and salty dish with a hint of bacon flavor.  The finished product is so good, you'll forget you're eating a vegetable!

Marinated Green Beans

4 Servings

2 (14.5 oz.) cans whole green beans, drained

1 stick butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

3 slices bacon, diced (uncooked)

Put beans in a mixing bowl.  Mix margarine, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic powder together; pour over green beans.  Add diced bacon and stir until ingredients are combined.  Cover and refrigerate overnight, stirring two or three times while marinating.  When ready to cook, remove beans from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Stir the beans and put them in a greased baking dish.  Bake uncovered at 350° for 45 minutes, or until bacon is thoroughly cooked.

© Margaret's Morsels   

Best of 2013

This is the time of year when TV news shows and newspapers have stories that highlight the year in review.  With that in mind, I thought I'd count down the top 10 most viewed recipes I posted during 2013. Some of the top 10 came as a surprise, but none more than the recipe that took the number one spot.  I almost didn't post the recipe because I was afraid it wouldn't appeal to many people.  I'm glad this old family favorite was a hit with my readers!  

10.  Strawberry Delight Cake:  A cake recipe that doesn't require any baking!  It doesn't get much easier than that!

9.  Peanut Butter Fudge:  If you think you can't make candy, think again! There's no cooking involved, unless softening ingredients in a microwave counts as cooking!

8.  Carrot Cake:  This cake takes some time to make, but it's worth the effort!  Unlike most carrot cake recipes, this one doesn't use pineapple.

7.  Chocolate Dream Pie:  A chocoholics dream.  A pie that only uses four ingredients and half of them are chocolate!  

6.  Chicken Parmesan:  This version is baked not fried.  It's also kid friendly, delicious and ready in under an hour!

5.  Salisbury Steak:  A tasty one dish recipe that turns ground beef from ho hum to wow!

4.  Cherry Pie Filling Salad:  This versatile dish can be served as a salad or dessert.  It can also be frozen in paper baking cups for a cold treat on a hot summer day!

3. Unfried Refried Beans:  These beans look and taste like refried beans, but there's a twist.  They're not fried at all!

2.  Eggs Benedict Casserole:  You don't have to poach a single egg to make this version of Eggs Benedict.  With this recipe, it's easy to make brunch for a bunch!

1.  Loaf Cake:  This unfrosted, made from scratch, plain pound cake made with my grandmother's recipe was the most popular recipe I posted this year.  It's an oldie, but goodie!

As 2013 draws to a close, I want to thank everyone for reading Margaret's Morsels.  I especially appreciate the comments, emails and feedback. This interaction is what makes sharing the recipes worthwhile!  This year was challenging on several levels and I wasn't able to post as frequently as I wanted.  Hopefully, I'll be sharing a lot more recipes in 2014.  My husband gave me a 35mm camera with lenses and some other blogging necessities for Christmas, so I have some things in mind for Margaret's Morsels in 2014.  In the meantime, 

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS!!!!!

© Margaret's Morsels  

Smokin' Hot

Since the 4th of July is next week, I thought I'd share a recipe I first made a couple of years ago for my family's Independence Day celebration.  It's an easy way to add heat to the meal without the fire.

When I think of barbecue, I think of a pulled pork sandwich piled high on a bun and topped with coleslaw.  Or, barbecue spaghetti sauce ladled on a plate of hot cooked spaghetti.  Or, something I make at home, barbecue chicken breasts that have been cooked in the crock-pot.  Barbecue isn't just for entrees though.  It makes a great addition to baked beans.

Barbecue Baked Beans are similar to the Easy Stove Top Beans recipe I posted a couple of years ago.  They use a lot of the same ingredients, but have different cooking methods.

The most notable difference is stove top beans use pork and beans, while barbecue baked beans use baked beans.  Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two.  Canned pork and beans are lighter in color and are made with white beans, tomato sauce and, surprisingly, very little pork.  Canned baked beans are made with additional ingredients which not only gives them a darker color, but makes them sweeter and thicker too.

Both recipes start by cooking bacon and using the grease to saute chopped onion.  Once the onion is sauteed 

and drained,

the baked beans 

are combined with barbecue sauce (this takes the place of the vinegar and catsup used in the easy stove top beans)

brown sugar,

the sauteed onion 

and crumbled bacon.

Put the mixture in a greased baking dish and bake until heated through, 20 to 30 minutes.

The recipe can be doubled or even tripled, but you might not want to double or triple the barbecue sauce.  It depends on how spicy you want the finished dish.

The barbecue sauce will make the beans smokin' hot.  If that's too much heat for you, check back in a couple of days for a tasty way to cool off your taste buds.

Barbecue Baked Beans

4 Servings

3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

2 Tbsp. chopped onion

1 (16 oz.) can baked beans
3/4 cup barbecue sauce

2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

Saute onion in bacon grease; drain.  Thoroughly combine all ingredients. Put mixture in a greased casserole dish.  Bake at 350° until heated through, 20 to 30 minutes.

© Margaret's Morsels

Refried Beans with a Twist

Last fall, while cooking a pot of dried pinto beans for supper, I started thinking about how I could turn pinto beans into refried beans.  Surely, it couldn't be that hard.  I started by looking at refried bean recipes in cookbooks and on the Internet.  Sure enough, it wasn't hard to transform pinto beans into refried beans.  Finding the right blend of spices, however, wasn't as easy.  I ended up creating my own recipe using my mother's method of cooking pinto beans, a combination of spices culled from several recipes and topping it off with some shredded cheese.

The first thing to remember about dried pinto beans is that they double in size when cooked.  I found this out in my late teens when my mother asked if I would pick up a package of pinto beans for her at the grocery. This was the first time I ever bought dried pinto beans and I bought a 32 ounce package because the 16 ounce package didn't look big enough.  As it turns out, a 16 ounce package will yield approximately 6 cups of beans when cooked.

Working in batches, spread some beans out on a work surface.

Sort through the beans, discarding any that don't look good and removing any debris such as small rocks.  Put the beans in a colander and rinse them under cold running water.

Dried pinto beans need to be rehydrated before they're cooked.  This is usually done in one of two ways.  Either cover the beans with cold water and let them sit at room temperature for several hours or bring the beans to a boil, remove them from the heat and let them soak for 1 1/2 hours.  My mother used a different method.  I don't know who taught her to cook pinto beans this way, but the method is faster and the beans turn out tender and delicious every single time.

This is how my mother taught me to cook dried pinto beans.  Once the beans have been rinsed, put them in a large pot -- remember they'll double in size -- and barely cover them with cold water.

Bring the water to a boil and let boil for two minutes.

Drain the beans in a colander, put them back in the pot and generously cover the beans with cold water.

Bring the beans to a boil and add sugar, Crisco -- I assume my mother added this to help tenderize the beans -- and the spices for refried beans: chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder.  Do not add salt. Salt added at the beginning of the cooking time will make the beans tough. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid and cook for two hours or until tender.  The water will cook down so check the pot periodically and add additional water if needed.  When the beans are done, stir in the salt.

Remove the beans from the pot with a slotted spoon, reserving the cooking liquid.  If you want the beans to have a smooth consistency, mash them with an electric mixer, adding 1/2 cup cooking liquid for a creamy consistency.

If you want the beans to have more texture, mash them with a fork, adding 1/4 cup cooking liquid at a time, until the beans reach the desired consistency.

Normally, this is where you'd put the beans in a skillet with lard and turn them into refried beans.  Not with this recipe.  I omit this step which is what makes them "unfried" refried beans.

Put the beans in a microwave-safe serving dish and heat for three minutes. Stir and heat another three minutes.  Sprinkle shredded Colby Monterey Jack cheese on top and heat in the microwave until the cheese melts.

If you don't want refried beans, leave the beans whole and serve them as a side dish or even as an entree for a meatless meal.  The addition of chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder turns everyday pinto beans from ho hum to olé!

Unfried Refried Beans

8 Servings

1 (16 oz.) pkg. dried pinto beans

1 tsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. Crisco

1 tsp. chili powder 

1 tsp. cumin 

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. salt

shredded Colby Monterey Jack cheese to taste

Sort beans, removing any that don't look good as well as any other debris such as rocks.  Put beans in a colander and rinse them with cold running water.  Put the beans in a large pot and barely cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil.  Boil 2 minutes; drain.  Generously cover beans with water and bring to a boil.  Add sugar, Crisco, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder.  Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 2 hours or until tender.  Check periodically during the cooking time and add additional water if necessary.  When the beans are done, stir in the salt.

Remove the beans from the pot with a slotted spoon, reserving the cooking liquid.  If you want the beans to have a smooth consistency, mash them with an electric mixer, adding 1/2 cup cooking liquid for a creamy consistency.  For chunkier beans, mash the beans with a fork, adding 1/4 cup cooking liquid at a time, until the beans reach the desired consistency.

Put the beans in a microwave-safe serving dish and heat for three minutes. Stir and heat another three minutes.  Sprinkle the desired amount of shredded Colby Monterey Jack cheese on top and heat in the microwave until the cheese melts.

© Margaret's Morsels

Party on the Patio

Memorial Day, the last Monday of May, marks the start of vacation season in America.  It's also the season when cooking and eating move outdoors. Grills are uncovered, picnic baskets come out of storage and the patio table is set for dining al fresco.


Whether you're grilling hot dogs and hamburgers or taking a bucket of chicken on a picnic, baked beans make a great side dish.  Easy Stove Top Beans are a tasty alternative to cooking baked beans in the oven.  The recipe definitely lives up to the name.  The beans are easy to make, cooked on the stove top and done in half the time of traditional baked beans.


Although the ingredients are typical of most baked bean recipes, the cooking method is different to make up for the fact the beans aren't cooked in the oven.  Instead of laying strips of raw bacon on top of the bean mixture before baking, this recipe starts with cooked bacon.  You can cook the bacon on top of the stove or in the microwave, but be sure to save the bacon grease.  When I cook bacon in the microwave, I use a specially designed tray called "Bacon Wave" that catches the bacon grease.

The grease drains from the bacon

and is collected on the tray.

Once the bacon is cooked, saute the chopped onion in the bacon grease. While the onion is sauteing, combine the brown sugar, catsup and vinegar. The original recipe called for two tablespoons of vinegar.  This was too much for us so I reduced the vinegar to one tablespoon.  If you want tangier baked beans, use the two tablespoons of vinegar.

Unless a recipe specifies otherwise, I always use apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is made from apple cider and has a fruitier flavor than white vinegar.  If you've never tried apple cider vinegar, give it a try; you'll notice a difference.

Add the vinegar mixture to the onion, along with the bacon and pork and beans.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the mixture thickens, about 30 minutes.

If you're cooking for a crowd, the recipe can easily be doubled.  If there's any leftover beans, they're just as tasty -- if not tastier -- reheated.  The beans are a good alternative to baked beans and allow you to get out of the kitchen and into the outdoors a lot quicker.

Easy Stove Top Beans

4 to 6 Servings

3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup catsup
1 Tbsp. vinegar

2 (11 oz.) cans pork and beans

Cook bacon in a skillet or in the microwave, reserving the bacon grease. Saute the onion in the bacon grease.  Mix the brown sugar, catsup and vinegar until combined.  Add the mixture to the onion, along with the bacon and pork and beans.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until mixture thickens, about 30 minutes.

 © Margaret's Morsels