Homemade refried beans (frijoles negros)

A tasty and healthy Mexican inspired side-dish

I’ve always been a big fan of refried beans, even when I was a very fussy eater as a child! I love Mexican food, and spent a summer travelling around Mexico 13 years ago. The food was just as good as I had hoped- everywhere are street food stalls selling amazing little soft tacos with different fillings. The restaurants were amazing- if you ordered fajitas often the meat/prawns would be charcoal grilled and it would come out sizzling on a skillet. So so yummy! It was also the first time that I had come across chicken mole- which is chicken cooked in this amazing chocolate chilli sauce (click here to see my healthy version).

The refried beans in Mexico were actually a bit of a shock to me- I had expected the pinky bean paste that you get from Old El Paso which is made with pinto beans (which I still love by the way!) but in Mexico you would get black turtle beans which were literally refried with different spices and chillies- absolutely gorgeous!

So these refried beans are a bit more authentically Mexican, although I have made my own interpretation of a recipe so I’m not saying they are completely authentic! But they are made with ingredients readily available in the UK.