Summer Vegetable Ragout w/ Pinto Beans

today was a 2 hour kinda day. 2 hours sipping tea, knitting. 2 hours garden tending. 2 hours blogging. 2 hours cooking and soon to be...2 hours of vampire watching manhattan sipping. below is a hearty yet summery satisfying dish albeit takes some time so be patient and set aside time to soak and cook your beans...canned are no substitute. This abundant dish cost me $ 12 as a combo of garden collecting and farm stand purchases, enjoy cooking something on the cheaps but with a huge reward!

Summer Vegetable Ragout w/ Pinto Beans

serves 4 - 6

1. soak roughly 1 cup of dried pinto beans all day in cold water, then cook while you are doing the remainder of this recipe - it usually takes me an hour to cook down my pintos so they are nice and creamy but still holding together.

for the ragout:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup 1/4 inch diced onion

1/2 cup 1/4 inch diced carrot

2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled (important!) seeded (important!) and chopped

2 pounds red and yellow bell peppers, peeled (important but a pain) seeded and chopped

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 jalapeno, half seeded, finely chopped

2 tbls chopped fresh basil

1 tbls chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

sea salt or kosher to taste

* in a large saucepan, the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook until soft = 5 minutes, do not allow to brown.

* then stir in prepped tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, herb sprigs (not basil) and jalapeno.

* raise heat to high and bring to a simmer, then lower the heat, cover and simmer until the peppers are meltingly together = 20 minutes.

* while the ragout is simmering, if you've timed right, you can drain your perfect pintos. after draining and when ragout is done, add in beans and chopped basil/parsley. season with salt & serve.