Mexican Fideo Soup with Pinto Beans

Converting the "Mexican Fideo Soup with Pinto Beans" (page 159) to an oil free dish presented a bit of a challenge. You are supposed to fry the fideo noodles in two tablespoons of oil before adding to the soup, and having had traditional fideo dishes in the past, I'm quite sure the frying step is integral to the intended outcome of this dish.  However, I decided I would be content with the altered texture of the non-fried noodles, and proceed with the recipe using boiled pasta instead of fried.  That being said, I followed the rest of the recipe as written and ended up with a very tasty Mexican style soup, replete with the rich flavors of chilies, cilantro, oregano and cumin.