corn fritters and chipotle beans: plant-based & oil-free

Corn fritters and chipotle beans are the perfect compliments for a deliciously easy, plant-based meal. Crispy, chewy corn fritters only require a few ingredients and fry up or bake without any oil required. The spicy-sweet chipotle beans take only minutes to prepare leaving you left with only one thing to do – chow down!

Sign of the times

It’s a sure sign of autumn when the abundance of fresh corn and other harvests start showing up in the markets. When it does, I start conjuring up recipes to take full advantage. That usually looks like stews or casseroles, so when I settled on corn fritters and chipotle beans using the first of the corn, I decided I would consider it a bit of a transition. I wasn’t quite ready to rev up the oven for a few hours, but I wanted those autumn tastes.

Healthy options

Sure, I’m a fan of corn on the cob, but I’m more of a fan of eating good food. I never let the seasons stop me – frozen or canned corn will work with this recipe too. And, it’s no compromise when it comes to nutrition. Good quality frozen or canned is comparable to fresh. Depending on how long those ears of corn have been out of the field and in your shopping bag, the frozen or canned stuff might even be healthier.

On to the fritters!

Corn fritters are wonderfully easy to make. It’s seriously a matter of grabbing a bowl, mixing together all the dry ingredients and adding the corn and scallions. After that, add a cup of plant milk. It isn’t even as precise as my sweet potato biscuits. You just want them to hold together enough to get them from the spoon to the pan without being runny.

Press down and fry

The best way I can describe the fritter batter is lumpy. Just plop them onto your heated pan. It won’t spread out much, so use a spoon to mash them down. You want to get them thin enough You want them to be cooked in the middle without burning on the outside. Getting them in some round shape is always good, but fritters like be unusual. That’s what makes them unique.

Yes, you can also bake them

I’ve tried baking fritters in the oven, and that’s also an option here, but if you have a non-stick pan, they dry fry (frying without oil) nicely. I had this same experience with tempeh sausage which goes to prove that yes, you can brown without oil. You know what else you can do when you don’t use oil to fry? Clean up a lot quicker. It’s something I’ve really started to appreciate since we quite using oil in our house. I’m sure our old pipes are happier too. Hey, I was talking about the sink pipes, but of course our old heart pipes run a lot cleaner without the added oil.

The quickest beans in the west (or anywhere else)

Honestly, the name chipotle beans is really an alias for cheater baked beans. Our beans won’t be seeing the inside of an oven, but they fit that profile we associate of beans in a ‘tomatoish’ sauce and call baked beans. This isn’t a compromise, but it is a bit of a workaround.

I used brown, Borlotti beans (the same ones I used for Chilean sweet potato stew). You could also use pinto, black or white beans such as cannellini. I’ve not tried them, but red kidney beans would give you a bit of a sweeter taste which might be nice too. My point - use whatever beans you like. Ok, chickpeas might be a bit weird, but in a pinch…

Grab the blender for this one

I experimented a bit with approaches to the sauce. I first started out sautéing the onions and then adding ingredients to layer the flavors before adding the beans. Guess what? The sauce is great if you simply blend all the ingredients and then allow it to simmer for a few minutes before adding the beans.

Chipotle chilis in adobo - yes, they're hot

The heart of the spicy chipotle sauce for the beans are my beloved chipotle chilis in adobo. It was many years ago when I discovered those cans in the Mexican food section of the supermarket and I’ve never looked back. If you’ve never tried them, they are small chipotle chilis canned with a smoky, sweet sauce.

What to do with the rest of the can?

I use a lot of chipotle chilis in adobo. They make great refried beans for a mean quesadilla and they are also great in sauces, salsa, even hummus. The only drawback is that you never use an entire can unless you are cooking a mega amount.

Unless you happen to be having a chipotle recipe party in the moment, the best way I’ve found to keep leftover chilis is simply to freeze them. My preferred method is to put 2 chilis in a small plastic baggie and divide out the sauce a bit and them put each baggie in a freezer container. You can also put them in an ice tray although I resist this because the flavor will linger if you want to use it for other things.

A bit of timing

With the beans taking just a few minutes, I put this dish together by mixing up the fritter batter and then setting it aside while I made the beans. They are happy to simmer on super low to keep them warm while you fry the fritters. If you decide to bake the fritters, just do them first and take on the beans while they’re in the oven.

This dish is wonderful with just fritters and beans, but if you want a garnish, it goes particularly well with slices of avocados. If you happen to have some vegan sour cream on hand, it’s another option. The beans are spicy, so lettuce or even tomato slices would be welcome.

Final thoughts

Some folks hear the word workaround and immediately think of compromising or settling. I’m not one of those folks. I consider a workaround as a new way to overcome a problem or get a desired result. That might mean finding a quick way to make a delicious meal or figuring out a way to save the rest of that can of chipotle chilis in adobo. It might also mean offering to bring a dish to a dinner party to ensure that you have something delicious to eat without compromising your health journey. Who knows? That offer to bring a dish might just open someone else to changing their own health journey. Peace.

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