White Bean and Ham Soup

With cancer and chemo treatments it is important that I eat a lot of fiber. So bring on the beans! This ham and soup recipe is great if you cook a bone-in ham and have leftovers. However if you do not have a leftover bone-in ham like me you can also use pre cubed ham which can be found in the cold section of your grocery store near the bacon. However, if you use cubed ham, or a ham steak and cube it, make sure you check the sodium content of each because some are extremely salty, which will lead to an overly salty soup. If you end up with an overly salty soup the best thing to do is drain off some of the broth, replace it with water, and reheat before serving. This soup is great served with corn bread.

Ingredients

Serves 8

1 lb of dry white beans - Navy or Great Northern - about 2 1/2 cups

2-3 lbs of ham hocks or shanks

2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence, or Italian seasoning

1 Tbs of butter

1 cup of diced onions (about 1 small onion)

1 cup chopped celery (about 2-3 ribs)

2/3 cup chopped carrots (about 1 medium carrot)

2-3 cloves garlic, diced

Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper

Fresh parsley

Directions

1 Soak the beans according to the package directions, drain and rinse.

2 Cook the vegetables in 1tbs of butter. Add the ham, herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning, and beans. Fill the pot with water until everything is almost covered. You can add more water as you cook the soup, as the beans will absorb a lot of the water.

2 Bring to a simmer and simmer for about two hours until the beans are soft and the ham meat easily pulls away from the bone. Pull the meat off the bone and discard the bones. You can also use a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

3 Add several drops of Tabasco to taste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a pinch of chopped fresh parsley.