Great Northern Bean Soup

This is one of my favorite winter soups.  If you're a gardener, you'll probably have a lot of these root vegetables still on hand and the frozen green pepper in your freezer. Everyone else can buy them easily at the grocery store.  I'll post cheats & substitutions below the recipe...

Great Northern Bean Soup recipe
1 pound dried Great Northern Beans, cooked
1 ham hock
2 Tablespoons oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
6 potatoes, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
1 quart canned tomatoes, or 2  14 1/2 oz store-bought cans, chopped

In a large soup pot, saute chopped onion, green pepper, and carrots in the oil until tender.  Add the celery and peppers and allow to cook for about 5 more minutes over medium/low heat, stirring occasionally.  Add the canned tomatoes, ham, and beans and allow to simmer for an hour.  Salt & pepper to taste.


Okay, cheats & suggestions:

• I cooked a huge pot of beans a couple of days before in the crockpot overnight.  Then I had cooked beans for this soup as well as some other recipes.
• I didn't have a ham hock on hand (a ham hock is basically just the bone from a ham), so I used some leftover deli ham.  I'll bet cooked bacon would be delicious in here as well.  
• It's a really easy recipe, you can add things or remove things as needed.
• This is a very thick, hearty soup, so don't worry at the lack of water or chicken stock. The canned tomatoes are the only liquid needed.
  

Enjoy!  Hope this helps keep you warm...


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