Ham and white bean soup with lentils

I have a beautiful ham bone leftover and wanted to make soup today. The weather has been cold and lousy here and soup always warms the house. Most soups are fairly simple to make, but this one in particular is so easy.

Here's my recipe for ham and white bean soup with lentils:

1 diced onion
1 C. each-chopped carrot and celery
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 ham bone (if you don't have a ham bone, use a couple ham hocks)
2 cans white beans
5 C. (40 oz.) chicken stock
1/2 C. rinsed lentils
large pinch of each-salt and pepper
1 bay leaf

Saute onion, carrots and celery in olive oil for 2-3 minutes in a large soup pot. Add ham bone, white beans and chicken stock. Stir to combine, add lentils, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for at least an hour. If cooking longer, reduce heat and simmer until ready to eat.

Chicken with leeks and mushrooms

I was busy cooking all day today and by the time dinner rolled around I had no idea what I was going to make!

I knew I had a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the fridge, some leftover chopped leeks and half used can of diced tomatoes, here's what I came up with.

1/2 C. chopped leeks
1 Tbs. olive oil
4-5 boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
Greek or Italian seasoning
1/2 C. canned diced tomatoes with juice
3-4 mushrooms, quartered
1 cube frozen garlic
1 C. chicken stock
splash of white wine (optional)
1 bay leaf
splash of light cream (about 2 Tbs.)

Saute leeks in olive oil in a high sided nonstick pan on medium high heat for 2-3 minutes until leeks begin to soften. While leeks cook, season each side of chicken with salt, pepper and Greek seasoning. Add chicken to the pan and let brown for 1 minute per side.

Add tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic cube, chicken stock (white wine if you are using it) and bay leaf. Stir to combine, cover pan with a lid and reduce heat to medium low. Simmering for 15 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated and chicken is tender. Add a splash of light cream and cook another 2 minutes uncovered. Serve with couscous.

My kids loved this dish and couldn't believe I had just made it up. Give this chicken a try, it will certainly be made in our house again!

Garlicky white beans

We ate out a couple weeks ago and had the most delicious plate of very garlicky white beans. I figured these wouldn't be too hard to make at home and I was right. A bowl of these with a nice arugula salad would make a delicious dinner and my kids loved them too.

Here's the very simple recipe:

2 pieces bacon, cut into small pieces
½ finely diced onion
1 10oz. can white cannelloni beans, drained
3-5 cubes frozen garlic
1 tsp. Italian or Greek seasoning
1 bay leaf
8 oz. chicken stock
splash of white wine (optional)
salt and pepper
3 Tbs. chopped fresh Italian parsley for garnish
grated Parmesan cheese for garnish


Saute bacon in a deep pan for 4-5 minutes on medium high heat until it turns crisp. Remove grease from pan and sauté onion for 3-4 minutes. Add drained beans, garlic, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, and chicken stock and cook for 5-6 minutes uncovered on medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese before serving.