Ham and Navy Bean Soup

Want to chase away the winter chills with a delicious, comforting, flavorful soup? You found the right recipe! This recipe can truly take leftover ham to the next level, and will make hearts and tummies happy, healthy, and full. I have also added instructions for freezing this soup in the Extra Love section so you can continue to enjoy it throughout the winter.

Serves 10-12

Time to finish: 2 hours (not including time for soaking navy beans)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dried navy beans
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 10 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 14.5 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• dash of oregano
• dash of thyme
• dash of dried, ground sage
• dash of dried rosemary
• dash of dried basil
• 2 cups green cabbage, shredded
• 2-3 cups cooked ham, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse the dried navy beans and cover with several inches of water. Allow to soak overnight or for 6-8 hours. Strain and rinse one more time. 
• I started the soaking in the morning and they were ready 8 hours later after work!
2. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat
3. Sauté the onion, celery, and carrot until onions are soft and translucent (4-6 minutes)
4. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant (30 seconds)
5. Add the beans, tomatoes, chicken broth, seasonings, and bay leaf and bring to a simmer
• Do not add salt at this step
6. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 90 minutes stirring occasionally or until beans are tender
• To check, pull out a bean with a spoon and have a taste test
7. When the beans are tender, add ham and cabbage. 
8. Cover and simmer for 15-20 more minutes. 
9. Taste the soup! Add salt and pepper as needed.
10. Discard the bay leaf, serve, and enjoy!

Extra Love:

• The ham I used was leftover from Thanksgiving. It was frozen and allowed to thaw before adding to the soup. It had a delicious maple and pineapple glaze that added depth to the flavor of this soup.
• I never salt soup until the end of it's cooking. As water evaporates from the soup, salt remains in the liquid. If soup is salted before the long simmer, it can result in a soup broth that is way too salty! You'll have more luck tasting your broth at the end and adding a little salt until you get it just right!
• Ham is such a salty meat already that you may not need additional salt! If you taste the brtoh at the end and find it to be too salty, add just a dash of lemon juice and taste again. Repeat until the saltiness reduces to your ideal level. 
• To freeze this soup, simply clear a flat space in your freezer large enough for a gallon ziplock bag. After the soup is cooled in the fridge, the day after cooking for example, add enough soup to fill a ziplock bag halfway. Try to squeeze out all the air, seal it well, lay it flat on a baking sheet, and store in the freezer on the baking sheet until frozen solid. After it's frozen, you can move the flat bag of soup around in your freezer for more space and easy storage. To thaw, simply lay flat in your fridge until it's ready!

~As always, cook with love~