Navy Bean Soup

Left- over ham (and ham bone) makes the best bean soup.  This is a light bean soup recipe my family loves.  I recommend it to all who love a good homemade soup.

Betsy’s Navy Bean Soup (makes four good sized servings)

I soaked 8 oz. of navy bean overnight, then I rinsed them in the morning, added four cups of cold water and boiled them for 5 minutes, removed them for the heat, covered and let them stand for one hour.

Next I added the ham bone, one and half cups of additional water, 2 tablespoons of minced onion, a pinch of ground black pepper, one bay leaf and about ¾ cups of sliced carrots and ½ cup of sliced celery.  I brought this to a boil, reduced the heat, covered and simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes.  I then took the ham bone out of the soup, let it cool and removed and chopped bits of ham and added it back to the soup.  Reheated the soup and served it with corn bread. 

I had the leftovers for lunch today and remembered I haven’t been updating my blog so here you go… bean soup!