Something New: Old Fashioned Bean Soup

Since it's been snowing for a straight week now in Columbus, I knew that this week's new recipe had to be soup. Mostly because I wanted to make soup. This recipe was the first to fall into my hands when I was flipping through the cookbooks, and while I had to wait 20 hours between starting time and eating time, it was worth it. Nothing was complicated. That's just the nature of soaking beans and running the crock pot.

My grandma made this for all the cousins when she'd have us over for game days. We could smell the soup cooking all day as we played cards (caddy!), and then near dinner time our parents would come over so they could eat soup too.

So this chilly week, stay in and eat soup!

Happy cooking!

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Old Fashioned Bean Soup

Ingredients

1 lb dry navy beans

1 meaty ham bone (I used a 1.5 lb bone-in ham shank)

1 cup chopped onion

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 quarts (8 cups) water

Directions

1. Soak beans overnight according to package directions.

2. The next morning, drain and discard the soaking water (not the same thing as the 2 quarts water).

3. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover.

4. Cook on high for about 8 hours.

5. Remove ham from cooker and debone. Shred the ham or cut to bite-sized pieces.

6. Stir the ham back into the soup. Serve.

Beans in a pot for their overnight soak.

Yes, this will turn into soup.

Ham off the bone (it fell off itself), waiting for shredding.

Delicious pile of slow-cooked shredded ham.

Happy cooking!