Monday, April 6, 2015

Easy Knock-Off Navy Bean Soup


Easy Knock-Off Navy Bean Soup


The day after...it's almost as good as the day before.

We had a HUGE spring gathering on Easter Sunday, complete with giant ham, scalloped potatoes, LOTS of fresh fruits and veggies and even an Easter egg shaped cake!  Needless to say, there were lots of friends, family, laughs and tons of leftovers!  Today I should be exhausted, but somehow I felt like cooking!

Navy bean soup always reminds me of my grandmother.  She made it all the time and I always loved the smell that the fresh bay leaves and thyme made in her house on the days she made it.  Today, that same smell is emanating from my kitchen, but I'm making way less effort!

I made sure to leave plenty of meat on the ham hock for starters.  I had plenty of left over celery, carrots and green onions from our veggie tray, so those all got cut up and thrown in the pot.  I still added the traditional parsley, thyme and bay leaves, but who has time to soak navy beans these days?!  With all the giant serving platters and dishes I had to wash in the last 24 hours, the last thing I was thinking of was to soak beans! I'm using canned white beans today, and I'll be just fine, thank you!

So, what's the difference between all these white beans?  The truth is...very little.  It's mostly a shape issue.  Navy beans are just a bit smaller than Cannellinis and Great Northerns, and they're just an oval shape as opposed to the familiar kidney shape.  They all have a slightly nutty taste, with thin skin and creamy inside texture.  You can read more here.

Easy Knock-Off Navy Bean Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes / Cook Time: 2 hours / Servings 6-8

Ingredients:
  • 1 large hamhock (from an 8-10lb. ham)
  • 32 oz. chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 (15oz.) Great Northern beans
  • 1 (15oz.) can Cannellini beans
  • 8-10 baby carrots, sliced
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 4 scallions, chopped
  • 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 large, fresh bay leaves
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
Easy Knock-Off Navy Bean Soup, meat and veggies ready for browning

Steps:
  1. In a large dutch oven combine the olive oil, hamhock, carrots, celery and scallions.  Cook on high heat for 4-5 minutes to soften the veggies and brown the hamhock, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add the chicken broth, beans, thyme, parsley and bay leaves.  Stir the bottom of the pan to deglaze any browning left in the bottom.  
  3. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Be sure to remove any remaining meat from the hamhock bone before serving.
  4. Remove the bay leaves, thyme stems and bone before serving.

Easy Knock-Off Navy Bean Soup


1 comment:

  1. I like soups but I never tried a bean soup but your recipe of easy knock-off navy bean soup looks very healthy to me and would smell very lovely, as it's ingredient list includes meat, veggies, beans. I am going to try it this weekend, thank you for sharing.

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