Slow-Cooker Refried Beans

Ingredients
2 cups dried pinto beans
8 cups water
3 small (or 2 large) yellow onions, quartered
2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and roughly chopped

"Taco Spice"
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder

Directions

1. Put all ingredients into slow cooker.  Turn it on low and ignore it for about 8 hours.  Alternately, you can cook on high for about 3 hours.


2. Turn off slow cooker and drain as much water as you can from the beans.


3. Use an immersion blender to puree the cooked bean mixture.  If you don't have an immersion blender, wait until the beans cool to put the mixture in a blender in batches.


4. (Optional) Add a few tablespoons of salsa and/or low-fat plain yogurt to make a creamy bean dip.  Also tastes good as a spread in quesadillas and hot sandwiches.