Skiers Delight: The Casserole

What do hungry skiers eat after a long day on the slopes with no energy to cook and a barren condo kitchen?  Frozen pizzas, Taco Bell, and Coors Light definitely fill stomachs in a hurry, but a strong craving for home-cooked food always remains in the hollowest pits.  As Joe and I began making more and more trips out west to ski, I decided to put an end to our preservative-laden noshing habits. The solution? 

The Casserole!

One of my go-to casseroles:
lovely lasagnas!

No wonder these one-dish wonders were so ravenously popular in the past. They can be assembled the night before, baked and stored in the same dish, and contain one very important ingredient: love. Or do I mean cheese?  May I also add that casseroles can be transported without sloshing or spilling... 

"Nesting" your casserole in your lap can
prevent saucy spills in the car.

Casseroles can be baked before a trip departure and microwaved on-demand, or transported "raw" and baked at the final destination.  I usually bake mine the night before as to minimize potential messes. Sometimes this requires nesting a casserole in my lap during the tumultuous journey along I-70 West.  And man, oh man, can the smell of a cooked casserole sure can ignite cravings within the tight confinements of a car! 

As our ski outings became more frequent, our consumption of casseroles did too. Joe and I recently tried a casserole that put all previous noodle-based dishes to shame. Slow-cooked beans and corn-laden cornbread constituted the main ingredients. Something a cowboy's wife might prepare, I imagine (hehe). This lovely dish was called:

Pinto Bean Corn Pone

A vegetarian version to the American classic,  Tamale Pie.

The foundation of this dish, literally, were slow-cooked beans. I prepared my pintos using a crock pot (see recipe below) and then further stewed them with caramelized onions and spices.

Beans, beans, the wonderful fruit!

The beans were poured into the bottom of the casserole dish, then an uncooked cornbread mixture was layered gently on top.  After the bean and corns were allowed to cook slightly, the casserole was removed from the oven and garnished with spicy shredded cheese. With all of my casserole experimentation, I've realized the common denominator... cheese!  After more oven time, a crust-like cheese layer is achieved. And this blanket of golden, crispy cheese is absolutely wonderful.

Contrasting tri-layers of spicy beans, savory cornbread, and
crispy queso crust.  Pinto Bean Corn Pone is skiers' delight.

Consider making a casserole this week.  Whether you are coming home from a long day of work, or returning from a day in the mountains, you too will realize how nice it is to build up an appetite knowing that dinner will be ready whenever you are!

Pinto Bean and Corn Pone

Recipe found on Culinate's website HERE.

Slow-Cooked Pinto Beans

Recipe found on Culinate's website HERE.

Note: I used a crock pot on high heat for 8-10 hours to cook my beans.