Soups

Yellow Eye Bean Soup

Yellow-eye beans are creamy and flavorful - delicious in soups, stews, and baked beans.

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

75 minutes

Yield

6 Servings

Ingredients

3 cups beans, yellow-eye
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion (large, diced)
1 carrot (diced)
1 celery (stalk, diced)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 teaspoon thyme, dried
3 bay leaf
8 cups stock, vegetable (or chicken stock or water)
1 ham hock, smoked
  salt, kosher
  black pepper
1⁄4 cup lemon juice (to taste)
  parsley, fresh (minced)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Drain and rinse the beans.

In a heavy bottomed Dutch oven, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook over low heat until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the thyme, bay leaves, 8 cups broth + 1 cup water (or 9 cups water), beans and optional ham hock to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, just barely bubbling, for 1 hour. Skim off the foam frequently. Stir occasionally.

After 1 hour add a little more water. Bring back to barely boiling. Test beans for doneness. Remove optional ham hock from pot and cut off meat into small pieces, returning it to the pot. Continue cooking until beans are soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar to pot.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add lemon juice, if using and parsley. Eat immediately, freeze in containers, or refrigerate, covered, up to 1 week. Leftovers are great served on top of toasted bread with olive oil, with Swiss chard, with a poached egg on top, etc.

*To soak beans overnight, or 8-24 hours: Soak 3 cups yellow-eye beans in 9 cups of water or enough to cover. Rinse yellow-eye beans before proceeding with recipe.