Ham and Lentil Soup with White Beans

This is a recipe for a healthier ham and bean soup, which is absolutely delicious!  To be completely honest, I could not get enough of this soup. The lentils and white beans add richness, fiber, healthy carbs, additional essential nutrients, and added protein to this soup. 

Over the past holiday season, I gave in and bought a bone-in, lower sodium, spiral sliced ham.  I know, I know…I hosted a brunch at our house and thought it would make a great addition to the other dishes.  To my surprise, I was able to find a ham that was low in sodium.  When the brunch was over, I gave most of the leftover ham to my guests to take home.  I was left with a little ham and the bone.  Spiral hams can be quite costly, especially when you consider that the bone is factored into the price – so I decided to make ham soup.

The soup is prepared with vegetable stock that is labeled unsalted.  You can use unsalted chicken stock if that is all you can find.  Just be sure to use only unsalted stock (not reduced or less sodium varieties) as there is enough sodium in the ham bone.  I must admit, when I made my grocery list for this soup, I was intent on buying unsalted chicken stock.  The problem happened when I got to the grocery store and found that they were completely out of unsalted chicken stock.  I stood there scanning the shelves unsure of what to do.  I noticed that they had unsalted vegetable stock, so I bought it.  What a great decision, the vegetable stock gave this soup such flavor – thank you grocery store for this one!

Enjoy!

Special note:

The first thing you need to do is trim all visible fat from the bone and from any of the ham that is on the bone.  Some fat will be left behind, but can be easily removed if you refrigerate the soup overnight after it is cooked.  The next day, the fat will congeal on the surface of the soup and you can simply take a spoon and lift it off.  This will leave you with virtually a fat-free soup.

Ham and Lentil Soup with White Beans

1  Ham bone – from a lower sodium bone-in spiral sliced ham

2  Tbls. Canola oil
2  Cups Diced sweet onion, ½ inch dice
2  Cups Diced celery and its leaves, ½ inch dice
1½ Cups Diced carrots, ½ inch dice
2  Dried bay leaves
1¼  Tsps. Dried thyme
½  Tsp. Dried oregano
¼  Tsp. Ground allspice
¼  Tsp. Ground black pepper
2  Cups Warm water
2  1-quart Containers Vegetable stock-unsalted variety (I use the brand, Kitchen Basics unsalted stock)
3  Packets Herb Ox Sodium Free Instant Broth & Seasoning – Chicken Bouillon
1  Cup Dried lentils, rinsed and drained
2  15-ounce Cans Great northern beans, drained and rinsed

Remove all visible fat from the ham bone and meat.  Cut most of the lean, tender pieces of ham off the bone and chop them into bite size pieces, about 1 ½ to 2 cups total.  Set the bone and ham pieces aside.

Over medium heat, add the oil in the bottom of a 6 – 8 quart stock pot (depending on size of ham bone).

Add the next eight ingredients and sauté until the onions are translucent, about 10 – 12 minutes.  Add the ham bone; do not add the diced ham, reserve it for use later in the recipe. 

Add the water, vegetable stock and chicken bouillon.  Bring the liquid up to a boil, and then reduce the heat to simmer.  Partially cover the pot with a lid.  Simmer on low for 40 minutes.

 

After 40 minutes, remove the ham bone and discard.  Add the lentils and beans to the soup.  Simmer another 35 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.  Once tender, turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves, and add the diced ham.  Serve this soup hot (or see special note above).

You can serve this soup with a slice of crusty bread, and/or a side salad.