White Bean Soup with Ham
This brothy ham, vegetable, and bean soup is a lighter version of bean soups that is chock-full of healthy vegetables. A few strips of sauteed bacon add a nice smoky flavor.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bacon diced
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed fennel
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 quarts 8 cups of low sodium ham stock (can substitute low sodium chicken broth or stock)
- 1/2 pound dried. soaked beans or 2 cans cannellini beans or other white beans
- 1 pound ham diced or shredded (use leftover ham, a purchased ham steak or the meat from a ham shank, ham hock, ham bone, or a combination)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed your ham broth may already be salted, so taste it before you add more salt
Instructions
- Saute bacon over low heat until fat is rendered and bacon is just starting to brown.
- Add diced onions, celery, and carrots and saute over low heat until onions are translucent.
- Add garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes over low heat.
- Add herbs and mix to combine.
- Add beans and broth.
- Iincrease the heat so that the broth just begins to boil, turn down the heat to simmer, put a lid on the pot and let simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Taste several beans to make sure that they are all cooked before removing the soup from the heat.
- Add ham to rewarm it before serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 14ouncesCalories: 326kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 39gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 130mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8g
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