Senate Bean Soup

Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 lb dry navy beans
• 1 meaty ham bone
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2/3 cup mashed potato flakes or 1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 bay leaf
• salt, to taste

Recipe

• 1 wash and sort beans; in large kettle, cover beans with 6-8 c hot water.
• 2 bring to a boil; boil 2 minutes; remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
• 3 add another 2 quarts of cold water and ham bone.
• 4 bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 hours.
• 5 stir in remaining ingredients; simmer 20-30 minutes until beans are tender.
• 6 remove ham bone, trim off meat and return meat to soup; remove bay leaf.
• 7 serve hot; freezes well.