Beans, Beans the musical fruit

Since it is tax day and Uncle Sam took all our money, we thought we'd start with beans, since they are cheap.

Sommer related a story about having ham with her parents at Christmas. Her mother said, "If Aunt Cheryl were here she would save the ham bone, but we are just going to throw it away."

Our conversation this morning began with talk of beans and their wonderful flavor (or lack thereof) and recipes we might try. We had ham for Easter and now we have a wonderful ham bone to use. So, we are going to make Navy Bean and Ham Soup. We include the recipe in case you have an extra ham bone lying about.

Navy Bean Soup with Ham

(from Safeway brand Navy Beans package)

1 lb. navy beans, rinsed, soaked, and drained as directed

4 Tbsp. olive oil

4 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

3 Tbsp. minced garlic

6 cups chicken broth

3 cups water (or all broth and no water)

2 bay leaves

6 sprigs parsley, chopped

2 lbs. ham hock

2 cups chopped, peeled potatoes

2 1/2 Tsp. dried thyme

In a large soup pot, heat oil until hot. Add onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook over moderately low heat until very soft, about 20 min. Add beans, broth, water, bay leaves, parsley, ham hock, potatoes, and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and skim off foam. Stir in thyme and simmer partially covered for 2 hours, stirring occassionally. Remove ham hock and bay leaves. Cut meat off ham hock and return ham to soup. Season with salt and pepper.

(Soup may be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen.)

Makes 6 to 8 servings. Recipe developed by cookbook author Marlene Sorosky Gray.