Plain beans are a disaster.

The trick is to soak them overnight, like grandma used to do, or use my modern method.

Put them in a pressure cooker (1-2 cup pinto beans to 3-4 cups water) and bring them barely up to pressure. Drain the water and rinse them well. Do this 3x. It removes the chemicals that will make you gassy, give you indigestion, and that make beans taste like crap.

Now, you are going to really cook them. Same ratio of water (add a teaspoon of salt), and bring the pressure cooker up to steam with the weight barely rocking (turn down the heat!) for about 45 minutes.

Drain them of the water, and add a good amount of butter... real butter not margarine... like 1/4 to 1/2 cup.
Now cook and stir them rapidly over a medium heat and mash them into refried beans.
These are the real thing... and they are called refritos.

Now take your 1 cup of rice, fry it in a skillet in olive oil till brown. Add about a half cup of chopped onion and a half cup of jalapeno' peppers, also chopped. Canned or fresh, either will do. Saute for a few minutes till onion is browned a bit,
Now add a small can of stewed tomatoes, a teaspoon of salt, two teaspoons of chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Stir well, and then add 2 cups water. Bring back to a boil, and cover tightly. Turn off the heat. Do not take off the lid. Steam for 15 minutes (no heat), remove lid and stir with a fork to fluff the rice. Put the lid back on for 5 minutes, and then the rice is perfectly done.

I like long grained Jasmine rice the best in this recipe.

There you go... my favorite meatless dinner for a lazy Sunday evening... refritos and Spanish rice. Costs about $2 bucks, and makes many servings,

By the way the leftovers get better the next day, and can be served with fried corn tortillas.

I was brought up in the Mojave desert, and this is how my Guatemalan auntie, and all the real Mexicans I knew fixed beans and rice. Fed many a hungry horde for almost zero pesos, and man they are delishimoso!!

TOL