It’s fall and time to crank up the crock pots and start ladling out some delicious soup.  If you read my post yesterday you saw that I received some lovely beans from Harriman-Nielsen Farm when I was on the Franklin County Harvest Bloggers Tour. Just look at these beautiful beans!

A soup recipe was attached to the jar and I tweaked it a bit and added a few extras and ended up with a delightful soup that I enjoyed all week long.  Any beans will do but these were fabulous.   You will need to soak the beans overnight in 3 times the amount of water as beans.

Bean Soup Recipe

1 1/2 cups beans

2 ham bones or ham hocks or shanks

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped carrots (I made it a scant 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes

1 package onion soup mix

6 cups water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Rinse beans and soak overnight . Drain and place all ingredients in a large covered kettle and simmer until beans are tender.  Remove ham bone and mince meat and return to kettle.   Salt to taste.

I used a crock pot and cooked all ingredients for 8 hours on low.  I removed the ham hocks and took off the meat after it was thoroughly cooked.  I would use a bit more ham next time as the ham hocks were not very meaty.   Easy fix–just buy a meatier piece or add some chunks of ham.  Serve with a side of crispy bread and a salad and you have a great fall meal.

Movember update: