Spicy Crock Pot Beans

This is the 2nd time I get to reference Kira on my blog! John and I recently made Spicy Crock Pot Beans for dinner, a recipe I made over and over again last fall after reading it on her blog.

Finding ingredients for this at the Canadian Superstore was harder than we expected. After searching fruitlessly for Rotel I've decided I need to bring things like canned chiles, chipotle en adobo, and Rotel back after Christmas break. All of those are either hard to find or expensive - there's no Mexican aisle like in American grocery stores. In a store the size of Wal-Mart they only had one size of tortillas and one brand of refried beans.

While looking for the beans, I saw these:






















Mmm maple beans.
















Is this Canadian Spam?

Also, they don't sell 15 and 16 oz cans of bean. They sell them in a size of grams that's about a can and a half. The good thing about this meal is that it doesn't matter - more red beans are just fine.















This recipe, like my favorite Julie-Schap-style taco soup recipe, can be made lots of ways. I like adding an extra chile en adobo for more flavor. It doesn't call for meat, but I've made it several times with chicken, and this time with strips of pork.















I made it in the 70s crock pot that my grandma (I think?) got for me at a church rummage sale. It's small but it holds more than you'd expect.






















It doesn't make for the most beautiful picture after it's cooked.















But they are so delicious.















A dollop of sour cream goes nicely on top. Notice that Canadians sell cream cheese and sour cream in the opposite sized containers as in the U.S.














Spicy Crock Pot Beans, from Food alla Puttanesca:

Ingredients
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 (4-ounce) cans green chile, diced
2 chipotle chiles from adobo sauce, minced
1 (0.85 ounce) package chicken gravy mix
½ teaspoon sugar
2 tomatoes, chopped, or ½ (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 cups cooked white rice

Instructions
Add first five ingredients to crockpot and cook on low for 3-5 hours. Stir in tomatoes 30 minutes before serving. Serve over white rice. (If you use chicken pieces as well, add them skin side down on the bottom of the pot and cook for 6-8 hours.)