A Winter Favorite

I made a Navy Bean soup last winter that we loved.  Even Frank loved it and he is skeptical of navy beans for some reason.  I saw a similar soup on a blog recently with Spanish Chorizo in it and decided on a second take.  Two weeks ago I attempted to cook a pound of navy beans in the crockpot in preparation for this soup and they turned to mush and subsequently got me off track with cooking.  Last week I got it right.  Five and a half hours on low was just right for my 1.25 pounds of beans.  You could definitely use canned beans, but this is more for your money and easy peasy once you know how long to cook 'em.



I topped the soup with a generous amount of grated parmesan
and served with hot from the oven homemade bread.


If you aren't on the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day bandwagon you are truly missing out.
So easy, so good.
Crisp and crusty exterior, soft and delicious inside.
Mmmmmm



I didn't use a recipe for my soup, but just winged it.  Here is what I did.
1 small yellow onion
3 Carrots
2 Stalks of Celery
3 Cloves of Garlic
2 small links of cured Spanish Chorizo
2 cans (drained and rinsed) or 3 cups of cooked Navy beans
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 Cups Chicken Stock
1 bunch of Kale, I like the Lacinato or Dinosaur variety
Salt, Pepper and spices to taste.  I used Smoked Sweet Paprika, thyme and oregano

Dice your veggies and saute until softened.  Add salt and pepper and diced chorizo.  Cook until chorizo releases it's oils, your veggies will turn red from the chorizo.  Add can of crushed tomatoes, cooked beans and chicken stock.  Add your spices, I just did a generous pinch of thyme and oregano and maybe 1/2 teaspoon or more of paprika.  I highly recommend the Smoked Sweet Paprika in this.  Let simmer so the flavors can come together.  Add the chopped kale towards the end and cook just til tender.
*I had extra cooked beans so I drained and froze them in a freezer bag for a future batch of soup or other recipe.

Serve topped with grated parmesan.  Yum!

I hope you like my soup as much as we do.  It doesn't feel like winter at all right now, more like Spring. It was cold and rainy last week when I made this soup. Though Texas weather is notorious for wild swings in temperature, it has been especially mild this season. I am selfishly enjoying the sunny, warm weather, though I fear we will have hell to pay come summer.  I heard that the long term forecast is for our summer to be as bad as last year.  Noooooooo