ArcaMax

A lot of people call me a clean freak. My house is pretty spotless most of the time. I have two cats, but I don’t have any small, human children, so frankly, this is not that hard to do. My husband and I split up the household duties pretty evenly. I do the menu, shop for the food, and cook it. Sometimes he chops veggies. He’s a great sous chef. He also loads my dirty cooking tools in the dishwasher. I do the cat litter. He refuses that job completely. But in exchange, he does the laundry. Now that we downsized, the laundry is just a few steps outside the kitchen, so he runs small loads almost every day. He also vacuums and mops the kitchen floor. What a guy.

There are few other things I do that revolve around my cooking and my kitchen that I thought I’d pass along...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Quick Ham and Bean Soup

Normally, I’d call this Bean and Ham Soup but when you’re cutting carbs it’s better to up the ratio of protein and veggies and take it easy on the beans. This tastes a lot like my mom’s navy bean soup, and it took her all morning to make; starting with the leftover ham bone. This is quick and easy and makes a nice weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

2 Tbl of butter
1 Tbl of olive oil
1 cup of celery bits (Rather than dice them, I leave them a little larger.)
2 cups of carrot bits (Same here…my bits are more like ½” pieces.)
1 cup of diced onion
2 15 oz cans of navy beans
4 cups of chicken broth (I use organic low sodium.)
2 cups of cubed ham (I buy a small breakfast ham, trim off the outer layer, and just thick slice it and then cut the slices into bite-sized cubes.)
1 tsp of chili powder (My mom would leave this out.)
½ tsp of garlic powder
1 bay leaf
Grated sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Put the butter and oil in your soup pot and turn on medium-high heat. Add the celery bits, carrot bits, and onion. Saute until they are all loosened. I don’t cook them all the way through. I want a little extra bite. Open your beans. Drain and rinse them and add them to the soup pot. Add the chicken broth and cubed ham along with the chili powder, garlic powder, and bay leaf.

Stir and bring it all to a boil. When it’s boiling, turn it down to medium and let it simmer. You can cook this in as few as 15 minutes and serve it. I like ook mine for an hour or so. I want the beans to break down a little bit so the broth gets thicker. They sort of shed their outer layer a bit and the soup gets a creamier texture. Stir thoroughly every 15 minutes. That helps with the creamier texture goal.

Add the salt and pepper at the 30-minute point. If you opt for a quick cook time, add the salt and pepper five minutes before removing from heat. Taste and let that get incorporated. Depending on how salty your ham is you might not need much.

Take the bay leaf out of the soup before serving and toss it.

Serve the soup in bowls or large mugs.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola