Hearty Bean Soup

This is one very thick and hearty bean soup.  I find ordinary bean soup a bit bland, so I kicked this one up slightly with diced chilis.

Ingredients

½ cup each 5 varieties of dried beans

10 cups chicken broth

1 cup onion, chopped

½ cup carrots

½ cup celery

2 cans diced tomatoes with chilis

2 cups diced ham

1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)

1 Tbsp Herbs de Provence

1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Hot Sauce (to taste)

Preparation

1. Rinse beans.  Place in a large Dutch oven.  Cover beans with water and soak overnight.  Rinse beans again and return to Dutch oven.

2. Add broth, onion, carrots, celery, and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for at least 1½ hours until beans are tender to taste.

3. Add ham, peas, Herbs de Provence, salt, pepper, and hot sauce (optional).  Simmer, covered, for at least 20 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

4.  Serve.

Note 1:  I used Northern White beans, small white beans, pinto beans, small red beans, and dried peas.  Many groceries sell mixed dried beans, as well.

Note 2:  This is one of those soups that only gets better the longer it cooks, so don’t worry if you need to let it simmer longer.

Note 3:  This recipe freezes very well.  Feel free to make a whole batch and freeze the rest for a quick meal on another day.