Porotos Granados

This recipe comes from Chile. Traditionally, the squash used is zapallo and the beans used are cranberry. The cranberry beans get incredibly soft and delicious in this recipe, but other white beans work too. I sometimes use a mixture of different types of beans, depending on what I have in my cupboard. Like most soups, this recipe is very flexible. Experiment with adding lentils, green beans, lima beans, corn, tomatoes etc... If using garbonzo beans, try adding cinnamon. This is an involved procedure, but is fairly cheap, very delicious, and incredibly nutritious.

First, begin cooking the beans in water (beginning in broth may prolong the time for the beans to soften). Meanwhile, sauté the onion, optional peppers, garlic and spice in oil. After about 15 minutes, drain beans and cook in broth, adding the onion mixture. After ten minutes, add cubed squash. When beans become soft, cover and reduce heat. Check if the beans are soft by sampling a minimum of three beans. Simmer until the squash is soft and the broth thickens. Add corn, tomatoes, and optional peas five minutes before serving.

Example that serves 2

1/2 Onion, diced
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 cups Beans (ex navy, northern, Spanish, cranberry)
2 cups Broth (ex vegetable, chicken, or onion)
2 cups cubed Squash (butternut, pumpkin, zapallo)
Spice (paprika, cumin, chili powder)
1 ear Corn, cut from cob
1 tomato, diced


For baby:

Fish out a few large chunks of squash from soup half way through cooking. Squash will be soft enough to mash with a fork.
or
Place some finished soup in a food processor. Be careful to not serve too hot to baby.
or
Bake or steam unused squash until soft enough to mash with a fork. Excellent with cream cheese or yogurt