Vegetarian/Vegan frijoles refritos?!

[GirlinContempt]

I decided to make some refried beans, and thought I'd do a search for recipes, get some new ideas or whatever... At least HALF of the results are labelled 'vegan' or 'vegetarian'.

Am I missing something here?
I have never cooked or been served refried beans that had any dairy, meat, or meat byproduct in them.
The most common ingredients are cumin, tomato, jalapeño, chilies, onion, garlic, chili powder, and er... water.

I mean, it's fine to label them as such, as it is *true*, but it just seems weird. Like labelling dried fruit or seeds or nuts with 'cholesterol free' :eyes:

[LeftyMom]

1. authentic recipes generally involve lard. nt

[GirlinContempt]

2. What, for frying them in?

Most people don't fry in lard anymore, or maybe just most people I know *shrug*
None of the non-veg-labelled ones called for any meat or byproducts either.

[GirlinContempt]

4. Ah ha!

I just found a site that talks about using tons of lard. Ick, sounds pretty gross. I guess I've just never had them made that way. :)

[LeftyMom]

8. nasty, isn't it?

I think most places are moving away from that, since there's a demand for lard-free versions from health oriented people and those who avoid pork as well as from vegetarians.

[GirlinContempt]

10. Yeah, I think they are

Cause that just sounds really gross. I'm sure my local Mexican restaurant doesn't use lard, and none of my friends do, thank goodness.

This site said that "some recipes call for nearly half a cup of lard for four cups of beans"
HALF A CUP?!

[Orangepeel]

are you sure that your local Mexican restaurant doesn't use pork fat?

if they don't say they don't and it is important to you, you might want to ask. There is a lot of pork fat in traditional Mexican cooking.

[GirlinContempt]

16. I know they don't

as it's labelled as vegetarian on the menu.

[kentauros]

21. Labeling as such on a menu doesn't guarantee that it is

vegetarian. I have found many people you would think would be intelligent still thinking that "seafood" is vegetarian. In Texas, as far as I know, most of the "authentic" Mexican, Central American and South American all use lard by the 5-gallon bucket (you can buy it that way at the local Fiesta grocery stores.) Yes, it is gross, but it's a fact of life for them, so always ask.

Also, ask about their masa, or corn flour, as traditional masa is also made with lard. Masa is used to make tamales and tortillas. I once bought a big bag of masa one time without reading the label. I ended up throwing it out when I did, kicking myself for wasting money and assuming it was strictly corn flour and nothing else.

[GirlinContempt]

22. Trust me, it is.

[kentauros]

24. Okay, just checking :)

Because I know from experience of finding out that the "vegetarian" soup was made with chicken or beef broth because "that's not meat!" or some such ignorant excuse by the meaters ;)

[GirlinContempt]

25. Yeah

this place is really good about stuff like that, I'm not a vegetarian, but I used to be and have friends who are. I also try to watch my intake of stuff like *lard*. I trust em :)

[stuntcat]

9. lol LARD

that IS gross-sounding, like I feel fat just thinking about it.

I'm glad I saw this thread, I didn't know. I love the beans :loveya:

[GirlinContempt]

12. Well good

I've done my good deed for the day ;)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. i think because animal fat is randomly slipped into things

those labels help vegan/vegetarians know what the hell they are eating.

[GirlinContempt]

5. Yeah, I guess so

Maybe I'm just out of the loop as Leftymom said, people sometimes do them in lard *barf*

With pre-made it FOR SURE would make sense, I totally get that.

[flvegan]

6. World Takeover: Phase II is complete.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. should i be scared? it sounds scary?

what have you been up to?

[flvegan]

11. Uh...er...I mean CURLED Takeover. Yeah. I'm uh, getting a...perm.

Yeah. Typo. Whoopsie!

Don't be afraid. Nevermind.

[billyskank]

13. They do that as a matter of course here.

If something is okay for vegetarians and/or vegans, they label it. Even if it's dead obvious, like ice cubes or something.

[LeftyMom]

14. Some of the stores here are starting to do that.

It's going to be enormously convenient not to have to read labels so closely, once that takes off.

[flvegan]

15. Ice cubes are vegan?

And all this time I've wasted...

[GirlinContempt]

17. Oh yeah, pre-made stuff I get for sure

this is just recipes though. However, I've seen the light, I didn't realize people did in fact use animal fats in the recipes so it makes more sense to me now :)

[puerco-bellies]

18. Proper refried beans are initially boiled with a slice of saltpork

Then fried in bacon grease, gauuh.. Bacon Grease!

[pipoman]

19. I think most traditional Mexican restaurants

using family recipes still use lard in their beans. I use a couple slices of bacon or a ham hock in mine, I suppose it isn't necessary but I like'm that way and it beats using partially hydrogenated oils IMO.

[GirlinContempt]

20. Corn and olive oils

are not partially hydrogenated.

[pipoman]

23. Shhhh, I prefer to continue telling myself that a little bacon grease

or ham fat isn't as bad as partially hydrogenated. :dilemma:

I don't fry mine though. I soak my beans for 8 hrs + then cook the beans with the ham hock or bacon, an onion and a little cumin on a low crock pot for 8-10 hours with just enough water to cover the beans. I then remove the bacon or ham hock (I usually eat the meat off of the ham hock myself to save my family all those nitrates and fat ;-) I feed the bacon to the dogs)Then I remove a few cups of the beans and put the rest through my food processor then stir in the ones I kept out. I like my beans runnier than the canned kind but stiff enough to stay in a tortilla. I make a big batch then divide it into 3, we eat 1/3 and freeze 2/3, they are great thawed. I often make a pot of Chile Verde at the same time.

I am a thrifty cook an refried beans like this will serve 12, my recipe for Chile Verde also serves 12, add homemade tortillas, grated cheese and maybe some pico de gallo in season for less than $2 per filled up adult (18-24 individual meals). And Very delicious for sure!

[GirlinContempt]

26. Sounds good

:)