I mentioned to you guys that I made bean soup last week using the last of the Easter ham and I thought I'd pop the recipe up here for you. It was easy-peasy. We had it the night my mom and Mike got into town, and I needed something that could easily sit all day and reheat for our late arrival home (I had a day where I'd be away from home for most of it and Callum had a baseball game which got us in the door after 7 PM.). After leaving a mix of navy and great northern beans to soak over night, I assembled the remaining ingredients that morning, let the soup sit on the stove during the day and reheated when we got home. It had been freezing cold and sleeting at the ball game (I might not have mentioned that, wink, wink.), and this soup was the prefect hearty treat to come home too.

2 cups navy or GNBs or both, soaked

2 cups (or more) cubed ham

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon thyme

chicken broth

Brown 1/2 cup of the ham in a large stock pot until some of the fat is rendered. Add the carrots and the celery and saute´. If the ham was very lean, you may need to add the olive oil to the pan to saute´the veggies. Once the vegetables are translucent, add the garlic and saute´for 30 seconds until it releases its scent. Add the thyme, remaining ham, beans and enough chicken broth to cover and bring to a low simmer. Simmer until beans are soft and adjust seasonings. I can almost guarantee you won't need salt. ;) Serve will warm rolls to soak up the broth.

It was hearty, warm soup weather when we had these, but by adjusting the vegetables (switiching the carrots and celery for asparagus maybe) and simmering less time (so the broth doesn't thicken) would make this a lighter, more spring like soup. Enjoy!