This recipe makes about 6 quarts of soup beans and freezes well, so it's nice for OAMC (Once A Month Cooking).
I decided to try something new and used some of the turkey stock I made and froze at Thanksgiving and used chicken instead of ham to cut back on the sodium and fat a little. The cream of celery soup was a last-minute addition and it not only added flavor, but served to thicken the broth a little. I am really pleased with how this turned out, and even Howie liked it (not a real bean-man, my Howie).
If you don't have a great big stock pot available, split the ingredients up evenly once you've made the veggie/stock base and make several smaller batches at the same time - that way you can season them differently if you want to also. :o)
INGREDIENTS:
Rinse beans well. Then cover them with cold water and bring to a boil, boiling for about 3 minutes. Remove beans from heat and let them sit, covered, for about an hour.
While beans sit, chop the veggies in a food processor (or to medium coarseness hand) and sautee them with the chicken pieces in a little non-stick spray in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the turkey stock, diced tomatoes (including liquid), and cream of celery soup. Mix all of this together well in skillet and simmer for about 15 minutes.
After beans have soaked for the hour, rinse them again well, drain, and put them back in the stock pot. Add the turkey stock/veggie mixture, then fill the remainder with water. Simmer for 2-3 hours with the lid slightly ajar. Add spices to taste.