This recipe can be made quite successfully with almost any other pulse, try this with lentils or chickpeas. The recipe can also be served over a starch, rice or cous cous and will serve more people.

Many different seasoning meats can be used: pickled pork, pork chops, sausage, salt pork, pigs tails, bacon, tasso and smoked meats. But ham is probably the most popular.

Any peppers of your choice can be used in place of jalapeno. Add a little fresh lime at the end of cooking. Any dried bean will work in place of the pinto. Meats can also be used, replace half the beans with meat and saute them in fat before sauteing vegetables.

Lighter Version: Omit the lard and the salt. Increase the oregano by 1 teaspoon and the garlic by 2 cloves. Add 2 teaspoons vinegar.

_{To soak or not to soak}

Mexican cooks do not soak beans because they know that throwing out the soaking liquid isn’t a very good idea. It doesn’t do much to make them more digestible (only a steady diet of beans helps with that), and it makes the beans turn out pale in color and flavor.

This recipe calls for black beans but you can use pinto, red or white. For a hearty breakfast, top with eggs, and serve with a roasted tomato, sweet potato fries and bacon.