PINTO BEAN SOUP

Beans and greens make a perfect pair. I found this recipe that sounded tasty and easy and added greens to it. The chopped spinach may make for a less-than-attractive picture but it was oh so good. Choose your own bean-green combination to suit your taste. I served the soup with corn muffins.

Find recipe at “Namely Marly” blog: Pinto Bean Soup.

Dr. McDougall says "Eat More Beans" and here is why:

A recent report by the EAT-Lancet Commission, comprising of 37 leading scientists from 16 countries whose expertise range from human health, agriculture, political sciences and environmental sustainability, has found that “the global adoption of healthy diets from sustainable food systems would safeguard our planet and improve the health of billions.”

See Dr. McDougall's web page for the link to a summary of the Commission's report.

What I did differently:

-Did not use oil

-Coarsely chopped a medium sweet onion, 2 stalks of celery, and several tiny bell peppers then processed them in a food processor until bite size.

-Did not add potatoes because I didn't have any

-Instead of all pinto beans, I used 1 can no-salt red beans, 1 can pinto beans, and 1 can great Northern beans since it is what I had in my pantry

-Reduced the liquid smoke to 2 tsp

-Instead of the Better than Bouillon and water, I used prepared vegetable broth in a box

-Did not add extra salt

-Dry sauteed the vegetables. Add a splash of water if they want to stick. When tender added the beans, spices, and broth. When soup done, removed the bay leaf and then added a 12 oz bag of frozen chopped spinach and simmered until warmed.