Starflower's Succotash Soup

Starflower's Note:

Succotash is generally a mixture of lima beans and corn, but as I was growing up this "soup" is what we called succotash. It is a great healthy recipe that is inexpensive, easy to make, and great to make at the beginning of the week and have for lunch each day. You can make it with fresh or frozen veggies.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 10

Yield: 10.0 bowls

• 16 ounces frozen corn
• 16 ounces frozen lima beans
• 16 ounces frozen cut okra
• 1 medium onion
• 28 ounces diced tomatoes with juice (canned)
• 1/3 lb salt pork (for seasoning)

Directions:

1. Put corn, lima beans, okra, and can of tomatoes (do not drain, the juice goes in the soup to make more flavor) into large soup pot.
2. Cut salt pork into 1 inch pieces, dice onion, and cook both in skillet for about 5 minutes until onions become transparent. Stir around frequently.
3. Add salt pork and onions to the soup pot.
4. Add enough water to just barely cover. (Usually I fill my empty can from the tomatoes with water and that equals just the right amount to cover everything.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cover.
6. Let cook for about an hour, until beans are soft, stirring occasionally.
7. NOTES on salt pork: you CAN eat the salt pork, but that is going to add a lot of fat into this recipe, it is really there to just help season the soup. Also, salt pork, is obviously very salty, if you get a piece that has A LOT of salt on it, be sure to rinse the excess salt off before cutting/cooking.
8. Additional Notes: If your soup comes out too salty, put some diced potatoes in it, to suck up the salt. Diced potatoes were part of the original recipe, but I am very picky about potatoes, and do not like the consistency of them in soup, but if you usually eat any soup with potatoes you should be ok to add some.
9. This recipe is great for lunch during the week, and freezes well. If you froze it, you can either microwave or warm up in a pot.
10. When microwaving leftovers be sure to cover, as the salt pork and lima beans like to "pop" and splatter all over the microwave.
11. To make a vegetarian dish, just take out salt pork- you will need to add some salt, especially if using potatoes.