Creamy Pinto Soup Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Rinse your beans and sort. Place your beans in a stock pot; along with ham hock. Cover with water to 2 inches above the beans. Bring the beans to a boil; cover and simmer for 2 hours. Checking occasionally making sure they have enough water. Add more as needed, not too much though..you want them to have a nice creamy broth, not watered down.
• 2. After the 2 hours; add your onion, garlic and peppers ( if using ). Cover and continue to simmer another 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Keep a check on the water. Add more if needed.
• 3. Once the beans are nice and creamy with about 20 minutes left to cook; add your seasonings ( salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder ) optional. Stir to thoroughly combine.
• 4. Test and make sure the beans are cooked. They should be nice and tender, and broth should have a nice creamy texture. Excellent served with a slice of cornbread...so, so good!

Steps:

• Soften the onions, garlic and pepper in water for 5-10 minutes. Prepare other ingredients.
• Add remaining ingredients except salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, mostly covered, 10-15 minutes.
• In 2 batches, puree the soup in a food processor until creamy(haven't tried the blender, though that would probably work too). Add salt to taste, if desired.
• Return to pot and keep over low heat until ready to serve.

Steps:

• For a smooth texture, combine all the ingredients, plus 1 cup water, in a food processor and process until just pureed. For a soup with added texture, reserve 1/2 cup or so of the pinto beans, then stir into the pureed mixture.
• Creamy Pinto Bean Puree (this page)
• Mushroom and Bell Pepper Quesadillas or Soft Tacos (page 172)
• Shredded dark green lettuce and diced tomatoes
• Good-quality low-fat tortilla chips
• Calories: 220
• Total Fat: 1g
• Protein: 13g
• Carbohydrate: 39g
• Cholesterol: 3mg
• Sodium: 445mg