Ham Leftovers? Try This!

My handsome hubbie knows that I do not like to waste food at all, so when he saw the recipe (below) for a ham soup, he showed it to me!  I purchased a ham this year for our Christmas dinner and I try to get at least 3 or 4 meals out of a large piece of meat.  We ate ham with all the sides once and will have leftovers of that meal and then with all the leftover ham I made this soup.  Hubbie found it in the latest addition of Runner's World magazine- January 2010.

This Hearty Ham and White Bean Soup is very VERY tasty.  Don't let the name turn you off to trying this.  It does have cabbage in it and I will admit, that kinda scared me!  I decided to give it a try since the rest of the recipe sounded yummy.  It was super easy to make.  The thing that took the longest was chopping and washing the veggies.  Even my Peanut and Bubbie gobbled it up!

I paired the soup with some yummy 30 min rolls and man! what a yummy lunch on a cold winters day!

Enjoy!

1 tblspoon olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced into medium pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 large carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced thin
1/2 cabbage, cored, cut into bite sized pieces
12 oz lean ham steak, diced into small pieces
1 qt chicken stock
14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
2 cans white beans, undrained
2 tblspoon fresh parsley, chopped

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a soup pot.  Add the onion, saute until soft and golden, about 5 mins.  Add the italian seasoning and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the remaining ingredients, then bring to a full simmer, skimming any foam that rises to the surface.  Reduce heat to low, simmer gently until the vegetables are just cooked and flavors blended, about 15 mins.  Stir in parsley; cover and let stand 5 minutes.  Serves 6.

Calories per serving: 270  Carbs:  32 G  Protein:  22 G  Fat: 6 G  

A few notes- I did add a tiny bit of italian seasoning to the onions, but since I had a can of tomatoes seasoned with italian seasonings, I used that for the majority of my seasoning.  It was VERY tasty with that can of tomatoes.  Also, I don't normally buy carrot bunches.  I buy the large bags of baby carrots, so I just cut enough to make the soup colorful!  Probably 20-30 baby carrots!