Two Bean Tamale Pie
April 3, 2007 by Heather
Heather says:
Partly for our health and partly for our budget we try to eat meatless one night a week. This recipe could easily be converted to vegan by omitting the cheese and using an eggless recipe for cornbread. This is Betty Crocker’s version with minor tweaking.
Two Bean Tamale Pie
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1 small onion - diced
- 1 med green pepper - diced
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 can (6oz) vegetable juice
- 1 15oz can pinto beans - drained, rinsed, slightly mashed
- 1 15oz can kidney beans - drained, rinsed, slightly mashed
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 box cornbread mix - mixed according to package directions
- 2oz grated cheddar
- 2 green onions - chopped
- ~ 2 tsp cilantro snipped (omit if you hate cilantro, you aren’t suddenly going to like it)
Preheat your oven to 425F. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the diced onion. As the onion gets soft, add the diced bell pepper and minced garlic. Saute until the bell pepper is soft. Add the vegetable juice, beans, cumin, and chili powder. Remove from heat and spoon into a greased 2qt casserole dish.
Prepare cornbread mix according to directions, stirring in green onion, cilantro, and grated cheese. Spread evenly over the bean mixture. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cornbread is done.
Yields six servings.
*Frugal tip - substitute soaked dry beans for the canned. 2 cups dried beans yields 4-5 cups cooked. You’ll need to simmer them until they can be mashed easily with a fork. Additionally consider making cornbread from cornmeal, following the directions for a single batch.
**Almost obscenely frugal tip - use the water from your bean soaking to water your plants. I’ve heard the theory that the enzymes from the beans are good for your plants, but you’ll have to ask a gardener.
LOL about the cilantro. The first time I ate something with cilantro, I almost spit it out on my plate. It wasn’t suddenly, but I kept trying it and over time I’ve come to like it!
Hee hee, there’s a site for people who can’t taste it. http://www.ihatecilantro.com
Hysterical.
I’m with you on the soap weed. I mean cilantro…
This looks good. Thanks, ladies!
PS-My fridge magnetic poetry currently sports the phrase, “Cilantro tastes like napalm.”
i like cilantro in salsa.
that said, this recipe looks like it would be good poured over some meat
For the record, I love cilantro in all of its fresh-tasting goodness. I just understand hating something everyone else likes. The smell of mayo gets to me every time. That’s my food hang-up.
I’m so going to try this!
I like cilantro and mayo.
[...] Two Bean Tamale Pie: a recipe [...]
I want this but, alas, the cilantro won’t be in it because I throw it out of the house into the yard when it is in my vicinity.
My boyfriend is a vegetarian, and while I’m not I always cook vegetarian (I figure I get enough meat eating out since I don’t cook often).
Decided to try this last night since it looked so good. I didn’t read the instructions carefully enough so I wasn’t sure what size cornbread box to get. I opted for that corn muffin Jiffy mix (only 34 cents!). I also used cilantro and could hardly taste it (but am not all opposed to it like some people seem to be, so maybe wasn’t as attuned to it as them).
It was fantastic!! It finished cooking before my boyfriend got home, and I polished off a quater of it before he got home. I couldn’t stop eating it!!
Now there’s only 2 pieces left, and me and my boyfriend might come to blows over who gets the bigger piece…
Thanks for the recipe, love it! And the corn muffin mix worked out great too, not sure how different it would be than cornbread but it developed a nice crusty layer on top that was great.
I think I’m gonna make it again right away to use up the rest of these V8-cans I got (6 oz cans only came in a six-pack) and the cilantro and scallions of course…
I’m going to try this this week, making the cornbread from cornmeal. Wish me luck!
Update: This was a big hit! I might make it a little spicier next time - we spooned some leftover salsa on top this time. Because it was only for 2 of us, there are plenty of leftovers and I’m having it for lunch this week as well. Thanks!
Looks delicious - will try this in a day or two.
Thanks.