I've been craving soup lately, but winter in Florida usually means it's 80 degrees outside. That didn't stop me though - just turn the AC down low! lol I've never made this soup before, but my friend's mom used to make black eyed pea soup with pieces of ham when we were in elementary school. It was delicious and used that as my inspiration. But she used to simmer that soup on the stove for hours. I've never cooked with dried beans before and I was gonna attempt it on the crockpot...def used my family as my guinea pigs! lol If it failed then we could always pick up a pizza!
I was hoping Publix had ham bones, but they didn't and I wasn't about to go all the way to The Honey Baked Ham store to get some. I just grabbed some ham from the meat section at Publix. I thought it was a big slab of ham that I could dice up on my own, but it was pre-sliced. It still worked and the whole soup turned out so good and this has to be the EASIEST dish EVER! Kevin liked the new recipe and the kids gobbled it up. In Parker's words: "It dee-wicious, Mommy!"
Gather it:
1 lb of dried White Northern Beans, rinsed and sorted through
about 1 lb of ham, large pieces
3 (14.5 oz each) cans of chicken stock
1 medium white onion, diced
pepper
parsley
oregano
Make it:
1. Place all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours.
That's it! lol Easy, huh? I think that's a huge reason why I liked this recipe so much! I didn't add extra salt b/c I wasn't sure how salty the soup would be from the ham. The kids ate it fine without extra salt, but Kevin and I added a little sea salt to our bowls. We also ate it with some mini corn muffins - the Jiffy brand was on sale (not that it's not already cheap) 2 for $0.95. This is the brand that my mother in law uses so it's now my go-to brand. Parker thought he was getting a special treat b/c it was muffin shaped! lol Oh and next time, I'll probably add some spinach to the soup to get some veggies worked into the soup!
Another soup to try: black eyed pea soup
http://sweetandsimpleandadashofcrazy.blogspot.com/2013/03/crockpot-black-eyed-pea-soup.html
