Pinto Bean Soup with Fresh Salsa (Simple Brothy Beans) for Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays

My friend sent me a care package several weeks ago and included a small book of soups since she knows I cook them weekly and figured I'd use the cookbook more than she does. I flipped through it and tagged several recipes to make, and when a description of "soupy pinto beans" in the last book I read caught my eye, I knew I wanted to make the Pinto Bean Soup with Fresh Salsa.

Although the recipe included a recipe for fresh salsa (just tomatoes, red onion, cilantro and lime), tomatoes were not looking great in the grocery store I went too and the red onions were big and tough looking. Because of the lack of good ingredients (and because I am lazy sometimes) I bought a container of good fresh salsa from the deli case.

Pinto Bean Soup with Fresh Salsa
Slightly Adapted from The Little Guides: Soups
(Serves 6)

1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans
7 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 yellow onions, diced
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
(I added abut 1/2 tsp Aleppo chili)
6 cups stock or broth of choice 
salsa and sour cream to serve

Sort through the beans and discard any misshapen beans or stones. Rinse well. Place the beans and water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until all the beans are cooked through and creamy inside, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

In a large pot over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions, salt and pepper and saute until the onions are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add the beans, their cooking liquid, and the stock. 

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally until the beans start to break apart, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool slightly.

In small batches, blend or process the bean mixture until smooth. Return the puree to the pan. Reheat over low heat, stirring often. 

Ladle the soup into warmed shallow bowls and top each serving with a spoonful of salsa and a dollop of sour cream.

Notes/Results:This one hit the spot--simple but good savory flavor. Wanting brothy beans, I just blended about a third of the beans and stirred them back into the soup. I also added some chili powder (Aleppo) for a bit of subtle heat and used low-sodium non-chicken bouillon paste in both  cooking the beans and in the soup itself which also added to the flavor. I used Tofutti Vegan Sour Cream but you could use yogurt or regular sour cream based on your preferences. One quick cooking note, I soaked my beans overnight from force of habit and so they only needed to be cooked for about an hour and then another 15 minutes or so with the onions. Hearty, satisfying and good, I'd happily make this soup again.

 Let's look into the Souper Sundays kitchen and see who is here:

Judee from Gluten Free A-Z Blog brought Instant Pot Red Lentil Vegetable Soup and said, "Red lentils make a hearty soup that can be cooked in the Instant Pot in just 10 minutes ( plus warm up time). Since red lentils do not require pre-soaking, it's a great last minute soup for a cold evening. ... It's a nice thick soup that warms for the inside out. If there are any leftovers, beware that the soup will become thicker overnight. Just add some additional vegetable broth before reheating!"

 
Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared a healthy side dish she recently enjoyed, Zoe's Fruit Salad. and said, "When we dined there last week we both ordered kabobs and falafel.  I added the fruit salad because I knew it would be fresh fruit instead of the sort some restaurants give you, you know what I mean - crunchy under ripe cantaloupe?  Not this place.  Freshly cut orange segments and sweet cantaloupe, crisp green apple slices and sweet grapes. ... When we eat out, or grab takeaway, there are times I want to recreate the recipes or dishes at home. Sure, fruit salad isn't exactly rocket science but for some reason I don't bother at home. We buy the pre-cut, well we used to buy the pre-cut fruit salads from Publix but they were disappointing."

 
Thank you Judee & Tina for joining in this week! 
 
About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays (going since 2008) now has a format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches at any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 
If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on your blog post that you link up her in order to be included in the weekly round-up.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back to it on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!