Hearty, Filling and Nutritious: Bean Soup for Soup Sunday!

We've all heard that beans are a nutritious addition to a healthy diet, but if you're anything like me, maybe you've been finding it difficult to find new and exciting ways to use beans in every-day meals. One thing I've found that greatly improves the nutritional availability and the digestibility of beans is to soak them before cooking.

Another trick is to always cook them with some ham or bacon. For some reason the smoky pork flavor really complements beans better than anything else I've found. Here's a great bean soup recipe that's easy in VitaClay and will be a great addition to your Soup Sunday. Make a bunch and re-heat it all week long!

Ingredients:

• 5-6 cups filtered water (you can use broth, but you're cooking a bone, so it'll make some broth with gelatin anyway while it's cooking)
• 1 large ham hock
• 2 pounds mixed beans, soaked
• 1 chopped red onion
• 3 stalks chopped celery
• 2 chopped tomatoes
• 2 peeled & chopped carrots
• organic corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
• turmeric (because I put it in everything)
• Sour Cream or cheese (optional garnish)
• cilantro or parsley for garnish
• 1 T favorite no-salt spice mix
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 bay leaves (optional—but remove them at the end)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients (except garnish) to VitaClay pot
2. Cook on “soup” setting for 2-3 hours
3. Garnish with sour cream, cheese, and/or herbs
4. Remove bay leaves and serve