Beef and Pinto Bean Pho

Our apartment has been very cold the past few mornings, (probably because we don't get any direct sunlight), and walking along on the cold, hard tile first thing in the morning has left me feeling...well, soupy. I just wanted something nice and warm and comforting to eat, so I looked around my pantry to see what soup supplies I could scrounge up and saw that I had beef bouillon cubes and pinto beans. I didn't want to make a thick soup, as most bean soups usually are, so I decided to attempt to make a mexican-style pho soup, minus the noodles, but complete with beef, leeks, jalepeno pepper, pinto beans and fresh cilantro. Awesomely, it came out even better than the pho I usually get down the street at an actual pho place, and had just the right amount of kick. Pho is very broth-y, so it tends to get bland pretty easily, but the pepper and siracha really helped give it a nice, spicy flavor. I know the weather has been particularly terrible around the entire world lately, so I hope you all feel inspired to make yourselves a nice hot bowl of soup to warm up from the inside out. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

6 Cups Water

1 Cup Canned Pinto Beans, drained and rinsed

4 Tablespoons Fresh Cilantro Leaves

1 Leek, cut into thin slices

1 Jalapeno Pepper, cut into thin slices

1 Beef Bouillon Cube

1/2 Pound Beef, cut into 1/2 inch thick strips

1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

1/8 Teaspoon Salt

1/8 to 1/4 Teaspoon Siracha, depending on how spicy you want it

Bring the water to a boil. Add the beef bouillon cube and stir until it
has dissolved. Add the sliced leek, lower heat, and allow the mixture to
simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the jalepeno, beef, salt, pepper and
the pinto beans and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the siracha,
taste it, and add more siracha if you want it spicier. Ladle the soup
into individual serving bowls and garnish each bowl with the desired amount of fresh cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.