I never realized until recently, I always assumed you had to have some type of meat fat in there in order to end up with that thick gravy-like soup with them, but apparently it's just something in the beans themselves that cooks into the broth that does that. Aside from the fact that you can get a half dozen meals from a bag of beans for less than a dollar, all the quality nutrients, they can still taste amazing even without adding meat/fat. Beans are definitely underrated.
