First of all, if you don’t like a really good navy bean soup, then read no further! But if you happen to love navy  bean soup, then this is the navy bean soup of your dreams. It’s easy to prepare, economical to make, and it tastes like nothing you are going to find in a can. (And yes, I am a little bit prejudiced about this soup since I started making it about a hundred years ago.)  

When my 4 children – Good God Almighty, 4? were young, I used to make soup almost every weekend. (Hey, my former husband and I weren’t poor, but we weren’t up there with the Rockefeller’s either. And soup was a delicious and healthy way to fill the little darling’s tummies.) Plus ham hocks were cheap, dried beans were cheap, and soups were both nutritious and filling. What more could a mommy ask from a simple to prepare dish?  

Then my life changed dramatically. I became single, my kids grew up and went away to college, but my love for soup remained. So I continued to make soup, including this one. Why you ask, when I could have just purchased a can of soup? Well, I was single, not brain dead! I still knew that homemade soup was always going to be better tasting and better for me, so I persisted in my passion for delicious and nutritious homemade soup. Eventually Mr. C. came along, (thank God), and he too loved homemade soup. So almost every winter weekend while we were both still working, I would build us some kind of soup on weekends. Now that we are both retired, weekends last 7 days a week. And I can prepare soup any old time I please!

(I highly recommend retirement, BTW. It is not overrated!)

So if you too want to fill your home with wonderful smells, feed your family a healthy and nutritious meal, and save money in the process, then homemade soup is the answer. And this soup is a good way to start. Serve this soup in a big old bowl surrounded by slices of a wonderful homemade or bakery bread, and you have an irresistible combination.

• 1 qt. chicken stock
• 3 c. water
• 1 ham hock
• 2 c. navy beans, washed and drained*
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped into fairly small pieces
• 1 c. chopped celery, including the leaves
• ¼ c. minced fresh parsley
• 2 tsp. dried marjoram
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp. seasoned salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a heavy covered pot. Cook until beans are very tender, about 2 hours. Remove ham hock, let cool, and separate the meat from the bone and fatty tissue. Chop or shred the meat and add it back to the pot. Remove bay leaf and adjust the seasoning. Great served with a good hearty bread or crusty baguette. 

*For this recipe, beans do not need to be pre-soaked.