Happy New Year!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.  We got a fun surprise here in Dallas- A White Christmas!!  That just doesn’t happen very often, but around noon the raindrops turned to the most beautiful big flakes and covered the ground – enough for all the kids in the neighborhood to bundle up, make snowmen, and slide down whatever little hill they could find-  Merry Christmas to us!

The snow is gone, but the cooler weather is still here . . . perfect time for soup, especially if you have a little leftover holiday ham.  We cooked a prime rib for Christmas Eve, but then we got a ham for sandwiches throughout the week and especially so we could enjoy this soup – it’s one of our favorites.  We also love to make Corn Chowder with the ham.  But of course, you really don’t have to have a holiday for either of these soups – we’ll be making them both again soon.

15 Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 (20 ounce) package 15 bean mixture, soaked overnight
1 ham bone
2 1/2 cups cubed ham
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
5 large carrots, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1 (12 fluid ounce) can vegetable juice (v8)
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley
3 tablespoons lemon juice
7 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Place the soaked beans into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover by about 1 inch.  Bring to a boil, then simmer over low for 30 minutes. Drain. Add the ham bone, ham, onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes, vegetable juice, and vegetable broth.  Season with Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, chili powder, bay leaves, pepper, parsley and lemon juice. Pour in enough of the chicken broth to cover the ingredients.

Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 6 hours.  Add more chicken broth as needed throughout the day.  Remove the ham bone and season with salt if needed.  Continue to simmer for another hour or until ready to serve . Remove bay leaves before serving.

Serves 12

Recipe adapted slightly from allrecipes.com