Pinto Bean Stew & Cornbread Dumplings
Calories 264 (7% from fat)
Fat 2 gram
Saturated Fat 0.6 gram
Trans Fat 0 gram
Cholesterol 3 mg.
Sodium 640 mg.
Sodium 453 mg. with dry pinto beans
Carb. 50 gram
Fiber 11.7 gram
Sugar 5 gram
Sugar Alcohol 0 gram
Protein 11.7 gram
Ingredients
2 cans (16 oz.) reduced sodium pinto beans, drained and rinsed
(We used Bush's Best Reduced Sodium Pinto Beans.)
OR 1 lb. dry pinto beans, soaked
6 cups water
1 medium onion (2 cups), chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
2 stalks celery (2/3 cup), chopped
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
2 cloves (2 tsp.) garlic, minced
3 garlic cloves (3 tsp.), minced
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp. salt
DUMPLINGS
1/2 cup white wheat flour
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. light butter
(We used Smart Balance Light Butter with Canola Oil.)
1 fresh jalapeno, finely chopped (If you like it spicy.)
zest of 1 lime
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
GARNISH
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Fans of spicy hot are going to love this dish. If mild is more your speed, simply drop the jalapeno out and enjoy.
For those who like making everything from scratch, yes you can make this starting with dry pinto beans, but using the canned option takes a lot less time. If you use dry beans, remember to sort them and remove any pebbles. Rinse with cold water, place them in a large bowl, cover with about 3 inches of cold water and soak at room temperature for 8 to 24 hours.
With raw pinto beans, you also reduce the sodium by 187 mg. per serving. With either option, this recipe is higher in salt. If you're on a low sodium diet, you should consider another option.
1. Pour the beans into a strainer, rinse them off and pour into a slow cooker. Add the next nine ingredients, water through cumin into the cooker and stir together. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
2. Just before the cooking time is up, whisk together the flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and use a fork to cut it into the dry ingredients until it looks like a coarse meal. Stir in the jalapeno (if you like it hot), lime zest and toss to coat. Add the buttermilk and stir to form a dough.
3. Once the food has cooked for the 4 or 8 hours, stir in the lime juice and salt. Then divide the dough into 8 servings, roll them into balls and drop into the stew. Cover and cook on high for one more hour.
4. Serve each portion of stew with a dumpling. Then garnish with radish and cilantro.
Yield: 8 Servings
You can freeze individual portions for easy re-heating later.
Microwave the soup for approximately 3 to 4 minutes, keeping the container open a little to allow steam to escape.
