Monday, November 24, 2008

Hermano Juan's Easy Pinto Bean Soup

He was a tall and handsome missionary in Mexico City in 1977. That's when the locals first started calling him Hermano Juan (Brother John). Twenty-seven years later, he would meet a widow with six children, marry her two months later, and before they'd been married three years, he would have three more children, including a set of twins, with his new bride.


He is my friend. He is my lover. He is my husband of three and half years and he makes me whole. He also makes a really mean pot of easy pinto bean soup. Here's how...

Ingredients:
6 cups pinto beans
12 cups chicken stock
4 cans diced tomatoes with the liquid
2 cans diced green chile with the liquid
1 can tomato soup
1 large onion
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

(Instead of the chicken stock and tomato soup above, Hermano Juan actually uses chicken and tomato boullion, but I have substituted the real stock here to avoid the use of MSG.)

Step 1: Pour all ingredients in a stock pot. Stir.
Step 2: Bring to boil, then turn down to simmer and cover.
Step 3: Cook for four hours or until beans are tender. If you'd like, garnish with cilantro and fresh avocado and serve with tortillas or chips.


See? Easy! Thank you, Hermano Juan, for your bean soup and for all of the other millions of things you do for your family. WE LOVE YOU!


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27 comments:

Heidi Boos said...

Such a sweet post for your hubby!

Anonymous said...

Awe how sweet! What a lovely tribute to your dear husband and family. i just copied the recipe. We do a homeless outreach each week and take out two stock pots of soup. I am always looking for easy not so expensive recipes. ( that taste great!) This one looks fantastic!

Rae said...

Definitely sooo sweet!!! And yum! I think I can totally handle this soup!!!

Anonymous said...

That looks delicious! Awesome easy recipe....Thanks for sharing. One more reson to Love John even more!

Anonymous said...

I wondered how your family ended up in Mexico. Glad to meet John!

jayedee said...

awwwwwwww! what a lovely man you married! and his soup ain't half bad either!

Unknown said...

Sounds wonderful - and the soup, too! :o)

Be blessed and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

...And I am SO trying that soup!

Emily said...

Wow. Sounds like your husband is amazing, and he can cook. I'm impressed.

Bethany Cox said...

that's like, the most normal thing he's ever made, i think. ;-)

Lara said...

Yum! Sounds so easy and beany!!!

Susie said...

Yummy tackle:-)

Momzoo said...

I am always looking for really good bean recipes, I am going to try this very soon, thanks for sharing

Lori of I'm no super Mom said...

Could you please just adopt me! Your food always looks sooooo yummy!!

Anonymous said...

That's such a sweet post -- and a great looking recipe!

Kathryn said...

This looks so yummy! I'm definatly going to give it a try. Your hubby sounds really cool! Thanks for sharing about your family!

Marilyn said...

Hi-I just stumbled across your blog and I LOVE it! The recipe looks wonderful. (i'm currently doing double callings in my ward and in a Spanish-speaking branch-striving to learn the language!)

Anonymous said...

Oh that was soooooo sweet! What a wonderful little story!

AmyK said...

Sounds great! I just got some pinto beans from MIL, too. Yum!

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

This sounds wonderful and I love the story about you and your husband. So sweet. Thanks for participating in TMTT, today. Happy Thanksgiving.

Amanda B. said...

That looks yummy! Love how you told the story- how fun! A great husband, a great dad, and a great cook! What more can you ask for? :)

Marilyn said...

I just have to P.S. I made this soup for dinner tonight and it was YUMMY!!!

Anonymous said...

OH YUM! I will try this after Thanksgiving. Thanks for the post!

Lana said...

That sounds fantastic!

Anonymous said...

Recipe sounds great. Can you please claify if you are using dried or canned beans. Thanks!! I'm going to try this one out soon.

Mom2my10 @ 11th Heaven said...

Stephanie, the beans Hermano Juan uses are dry beans, not canned. Thanks for asking for the clarification. Probably other wondered, too!

Niki Jolene said...

Yum! This one is a bookmark for sure!

:)

GranthamLynn said...

oh sounds so good. I will definately try. I loved reading your story. What a sweet post. I love to stop in and see you. It's been a while but I'll be back.
Have a Blessed week.
Sherry