Barbs Butter Bean or Lima Bean Soup

Barb Gertz's Note:

My family loves this tasty soup. It can also be made using great northern beans. Note:I have used diced tomatoes with Jalapeno's added for a spicy flavor. Also pass the hot sauce.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 lb lima beans (dried)
• 6 cups water, add more if needed
• 1/2 lb kielbasa or 1/2 lb ham
• 3 -4 teaspoons chicken base (McCormicks)
• 3/4 cup carrot, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (14 ounce) can tomatoes, diced
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour

Directions:

1. Put beans into large soup pot cover with water bring to a boil for 2 minutes, turn off heat and let set for 1 hour, Drain off water.
2. Add the 6 cups water to the beans and bring to a boil & simmer; at this point if I an using ham or ham hocks I put them in a smaller saucepan and cook them until done.
3. When beans are starting to get tender add ham (& broth from ham) or Kielbasa, tomatoes, onion , carrots, celery and simmer until done.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste: also for a thicker soup add the 2 tablespoons flour to a little water, add to soup and simmer, check seasonings.

Reviews

[cucinatrix]

What a great, healthy winter treat! For our spice loving fellow here, I added a bit of red pepper flake, and rather than using flour to thicken, I pureed a couple cups of the soup and beans and added them back to the pot. Another really wonderful feature is that, by using really lean ham, you have a very rich-tasting soup with minimal fat. Great recipe Barb!

[Let's Cook!]

Near the end I wasn't sure about this - but it came together. I added 2tsp more base (veggie bouillon - husband allergic to chicken) and quite a bit of salt. Also I used half kielbasa and half ham - to use up what I had on hand. the tomatoes add a nice mellow flavor - very good.

[Aunt Reece]

This is the best soup I've ever made! I did change a couple of things: I cooked 1/2 pound turkey bacon instead of kielbasa and added more veggies. I cooked it for a couple of hours after the limas soaked an hour. DELICIOUS & A BIG THANK YOU! You have the best recipes Barb!