I have been sick for most of this past week. It was not cute. Why? Because of the temperature swing that we had here in Iowa. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but unfortunately my super immune system from teaching middle school has dropped a little. It’s a sad state of affairs, but what can I do? Make soup. This Gran and Red Bean soup can be made with Quinoa (which was my first attempt at this recipe) and it tastes AMAZING. BUT, I know that if you’re not in the quinoa train, you can make this with rice.

This recipe is made to be a complete set and forget. Dump all the ingredients in, start watching a movie, and then eat dinner. That simple. Especially when you are feeling under the weather, have a crazy schedule, or you’re running around with your family, this is a perfect recipe for you.

Makes 4-6 servings
Prep: 10 minutes.
Cooking Time in the Instant Pot: 60 minutes
Remember when using the Instant Pot you need to let it come to pressure and let release said pressure.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 6 cloves of garlic (less if you don’t want that many)
• 3 tablespoons of cumin
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste.
• 16 ounces of dried beans. I used dried Goya Red beans.
• 1/2 cup of grains. I used quinoa. You could also use rice.
  You could also just make the rice in a rice cooker if you are using this recipe in the bigger picture in meal prepping.
• 2 tablespoons of chipotle sauce.
• Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to taste
• 1 sofrito cube, optional.
• 1-2 sazon packets, optional but makes it so much better.
• 7 cups of stock (veggie or chicken). You could also use water
• 1 lime, cut in half. You can use more as a topping.

Toppings:
The sky’s the limit. If you’re making this at the end of the week, use leftover meat. I have used some chopped up chicken (picture below), plain, sharp cheddar cheese, queso fresco, mozzarella, etc.

How to:

You can dump and go or, you can do the following:

• Heat oil in the instant pot with the sauté setting. Add the onion and stir occasionally until translucent. Add garlic, cumin, sofrito cube, and sazon. This should all take around 8- 10 minutes. Cancel the Sauté setting.
• Add beans, grains, sauce, salt, tomato paste (essentially everything else) with the 7 cups of liquid (stock/broth/water). Don’t forget to add half of the juice of a lemon. Lock and load! Pressure cook for at least 50 minutes. If you want super soft beans, go for the full hour.
• Assemble everything. Scoop everything up to a bowl and serve with your favorite toppings.

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