Neto's Pinto Bean Soup

I often use canned beans when cooking. When you don't have a lot of time, they are a savior. On the other hand, a huge pot of beans makes the house smell delicious and ensures easy delicious meals over the next few days. This is worth the extra time and effort in my opinion. When we make a pot of pinto beans we use them for refried beans, on tortas (sandwiches) and this:

I don't have a name for it, but doesn't that look delicious? Ernesto introduced it to me and I haven't ever seen this in a cookbook, so I will call it "Neto's Pinto Bean Soup".
First, you will need to make a pot of beans.


Big 'Ol Pot of Beans

1lb. bag of dry pinto beans
1 medium white onion cut in half
6 cloves garlic

soak beans overnight in cold water, or do a quick boil (cover beans with water and bring to a boil for 15 minutes, strain) In a large pot, place beans and 4 quarts water. Simmer for 4 hours or until beans are tender.


Neto's Pinto Bean Soup

You will need the big pot of beans you made, and white rice. (1 3/4 cups water to one cup rice) Assemble while the beans and rice are still hot. Each bowl of soup is prepared individually.

Fill each bowl with beans and broth and 2 spoonfuls of the rice.

Top with fresh vegetables:
chopped tomatoes
chopped cilantro
diced chiles
cubed avocado
salt to taste

Refried Beans

Matt Armendariz's blog MattBites has been in my reader for a long time now. I love his writing style and his photos are phenomenal. When he invited his readers to Summer Fest 2009, I wanted to participate. What a fun idea. Its four weeks of sharing recipes. Pop over to his blog to see what others are posting. The first two weeks of summerfest were delicious with one week of Herbs and another week of Fruits from Trees.

This weeks theme is "Beans & Greens"

Immediately I thought of refried beans. Tortillas. Salsa. Beans. These are all staples of Mexican cooking. Served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, beans are low in fat and high in protein. They are definitely a staple in our house.

You won't believe how easy they are to make either. You can start with dry pinto beans that you have already cooked or use canned beans. We do both ways, but since we make these so frequently, we more often use canned beans. One benefit is that this can be ready in less than 10 minutes, another is that no salt is needed. (canned beans come with enough sodium added. You won't want to rinse these as the juice is key to the consistency.
Refried Beans

1Tbsp canola oil

3-4 dried chile de arbol peppers (available in most grocery stores)

1 24 oz can of whole pinto beans (make sure they aren't cooked with pork)

Heat the canola oil and add peppers. Cook until blackened. Take pan off heat and let cool [or it will splatter] Add beans. Simmer. Mash. Serve. Que rico!