Recipe 344 - Southwest Bean Bake

We are running very low on groceries. It made planning for dinner really hard because I was craving protein after yesterdays hard workouts.

I knew I wanted beans but with what. Then I came across this recipe and decided to try it out.

I read the reviews so knew that I wanted to add more beans. I was also nice and organized so I decided to use our dry beans. I threw 1 cup each of kindey, black beans and white beans into a pot and did the quick soak method (bring to a boil and let simmer for an hour). In hindsight I think I ended up with too many beans because the 6 servings the recipe called for turned into 12 ;-) I added some frozen spinach and corn to get some veggies in. There could have been even more added. Next was to use tomato sauce and paste instead of the ketchup/salsa (only because I didn't have salsa, didn't want ketchup and had pasta sauce and paste in my fridge that needed to be used). I kept the dumplings as is and found there was a nice amount. Added a very small amount of cheese to the top and baked.

This turned out to be too much for my large casserole dish, so I put some (4 servings) in a smaller one as well, added sliced jalapenos and topped with chipotle powder.

I liked this!! It was like a chili with dumplings :) The jalapeno/chipotle version was simply amazing!!! The Princess liked this as well and even The Dragon asked to try some?!?!? He wasn't fond of the beans (he doesn't like beans) but he did like the dumpling part of it.

Southwestern Bean Bake
from http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/southwestern-bean-bake/2e865748-064c-4f5a-9433-49b81faf4690

• 1 cup kidney beans 
• 1 cup black beans
• 1 cup white beans
• 1 can (28 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 cups corn
• 170 grams Frozen Spinach
• 1 cup cheese shredded

1. Heat oven to 425°F. In 2-quart saucepan, heat beans, tomatoes, salsa and ketchup to boiling, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole.

2. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients until soft dough forms; beat 20 strokes. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto bean mixture; spread to edge of casserole.

3. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Servings: 12