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Eat Well With Beans, Bacon and Brisket

Local cooking instructor Carol Ritchie helps stretch the budget

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A lot of families are cooking home now and doing their best to stretch recipes and budgets. We want to help you "Stay home. Stay Safe. Eat Well."

And local cooking instructor Carol Ritchie is in the kitchen to help.

Ritchie is one of the recipe developers and volunteer spokesperson for cookbooks from the Dallas-based American Heart Association.

She says now is the time to look beyond what we normally buy and try something new.

"The common things people are purchasing like pastas and the sauces, you may be seeing some leaner supply on those. but look outside that box. look at the lentils. look at the beans, the canned vegetables, the frozen vegetables," Ritchie said.

Beans -- pinto, black, butter, lima -- along with bacon and brisket, are the stars in Ritchie's Colorful Baked Beans with Brisket. One recipe cooks up enough for eight servings.

Colorful Baked Beans with Brisket
by Carol Ritchie - Cookin’ with Carol
Serves 8

  • 4 slices bacon, diced
  • 1 onion, peeled and diced
  • 3 (15-ounce) cans beans (pinto beans, black beans, great northern beans, butter beans, lima beans), rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 pounds cooked brisket, shredded or sliced (or shredded chicken or shredded pork), for topping

In a large skillet (I use cast iron), cook diced bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings from the pan. Sauté onion in the remaining bacon drippings until tender, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add beans, barbecue sauce, water, brown sugar, and reserved cooked bacon, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until warmed through and flavors are blended.

Top with shredded cooked brisket (or chicken or pork). Serve and enjoy!

Colorful Baked Beans with Brisket prepared by cooking instructor Carol Ritchie.
Photo Credit: Carol Ritchie
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