Every so often the local market sets out a basket of pinto beans, still in their pods. So you have the pleasure of unzipping them and harvesting the beans. These beauties are from Mexico, traveling all the way to Southeastern Michigan. And they are tender and fresh and would probably be good eaten raw with a little sea salt, like fava in Italy.
My mother-in-law, my first teacher of Italian cooking, used to say la cipolla da sempre di buono. Onion makes everything good. Well, maybe not apple pie, but when it comes to soups and stews and braises and sauces and long cooks, she was right. Someone else, I now forget who, used to stress the importance of olive oil.
I’ve gotten in the habit of adding oil to my soups. This one begins with four smallish (golf- to tennis-ball size) onions chopped and sautéed. Then the pinto beans, maybe a couple cups, to warm and roll in the onion (and a little more oil); then chick peas—yes, from a can, local Trader Joe’s—(and a little more oil); then red lentils (and a little more oil), a cup of chopped spinach; salt and pepper and broth or bouillon (and a little more oil). Cook long, water just to the surface of the beans.
It’s one below zero F outside (let F stand for what you like), so a thick soup and some good bread will help you cope.
