Healthy, Nutritious, Basic Bean Soup

1. First, start off by checking the beans for any pebbles and removing them. Nowadays, it’s pretty rare to find pebbles but check anyway because cosmetic dentistry is expensive.

2. Put the beans into a colander and rinse under running water.
Find your biggest pot.

3. Add the water to a large pot and set it over the heat to bring to a boil. I realized that I don’t own a pot large enough for 3 quarts of water so always check first and halve the recipe if necessary.

4. Add beans to the water, you don’t have to wait for the water to boil.

5. Let the water come to a boil.

6. Once the water is boiling, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cover the pot.

7. Cook for 2 hours, adding the salt near the end. My mom says to let the beans cook for no less than 2 hours and always on a low setting. She’s serious about this. She also makes the best beans so you should listen to her.

Note: By now some of you are going to get flustered about the fact that there is no soaking time. I know, because I got flustered about it too. I repeatedly asked my mom about this, pointing to various sources that insist on soaking and many times asking her if she was sure. She shrugged her shoulders and told me, “You can soak them if you want, but you don’t have to.” And you know what, she’s right, you don’t need soaking time. Your GI tract will be fine.

Serving size: 1 cup

WW Points+: 5

Calories 245, Carbs 45g, Fat 1g, Protein 15g