This tasty soup is sure to warm you up during the cold months.
It’s getting cold down here in the Valley of the Sun. Well, cold… OK, it’s cold for me. The days aren’t so bad: Our highs have been somewhere in the 75-85 degree range. Which is awesome. But the nights have been a little chilly. The last couple of evenings, in fact, we’ve had rain and thunderstorms.
The husband especially dislikes the cold. If it gets below 75, he starts shivering like it’s 20 below. He recently got a new (bigger) office at work and he came home to say that he was freezing in there. He sent me a picture of himself all bundled up one day.
Several layers, a hoodie and a beanie and he still isn’t warm enough.
But we fixed that problem: We went and got a space heater for his office. Now every time someone goes in there, they think they walked into a sauna.
The nice thing about the colder temps, though, is that we get to use our fireplace. I do love fires. So cozy. And it seems I’m not the only one who feels that way.
Leni, the youngest, thinks fires are just dandy.
Another thing that’s great about this time of year is the food. You just can’t have certain things when it’s hot. Like chili. Eating chili in 100-plus degree weather is unpleasant. I’ll take a salad instead.
So I decided I wanted soup. Something warm and tasty and comforting. I thought about making my Navy Bean Soup, but it requires dairy. Since we don’t eat that anymore, I thought maybe I could find something similar, but within our dietary restrictions. I ended up finding a recipe in an old cookbook my grandmother had given me, but put my own spin on it.
It turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.
This New Orleans Bean Soup has everything one needs to stay warm on cold nights: three kinds of beans, tasty broth, and three different meats, including ham hocks, chicken thighs and kielbasa.
Can I just say that I LOVE kielbasa? I really do. It’s so good and you can use it for alot of things. Back in the day, I would put in my mac’n’cheese. I also use it to make arrabiata.
So good.
Alas, it’s probably not the greatest thing to eat. At least, that’s what I thought until the hubby picked up a package of Wellshire Farms Kielbasa. I swear, I’ve never had kielbasa that was so good. And the best part? It has only SIX ingredients! SIX! And I knew what all of them were! That was really a win. Sure, at $6.99 it was more expensive than your regular brands, but for us, it was totally worth it.
As I write this, we are planning on having the soup for dinner tonight. It will be the third night we’ve had it and frankly, I’m kinda sad that it’s going to be gone soon. Guess it’s a good thing this recipe is easy to make!
New Orleans Bean Soup
INGREDIENTS
1 cup dry pinto beans
1/2 cup each of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and red kidney beans
1-2 Lbs. ham hock or shank
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 28-oz can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2-3 bay leaves
1/4-1/2 tsp. crushed or ground red pepper
1 package Polska Kielbasa (you can use turkey kielbasa if you want)
1 Lb boneless chicken thighs
To prep the beans, rinse them then place into a large stockpot. Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cook for two minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Allow to sit for at least one hour, then drain and rinse the beans again and place back in the pot.
Add ham hocks or shank, along with 4 cups of broth and another 2 cups of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for an hour. Remove the hocks and, once cool enough to touch, get all the meat off the bone. Add meat back to the pot.
Add undrained diced tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves and red pepper. Slice up the kielbasa and chicken and add to pot. Bring to a boil again, reduce heat, cover and cook for at least one hour, or until the beans are tender. Serve and enjoy!
Boxless Kitchen 