Recipe of the Month – January 2010 – Hearty Ham Soup

By Paula Hendricks - Nutritionist on January 6, 2010

Hearty Ham Soup – Makes Approximately Seven 2-1/2 Cup Servings

Warm yourself this January with this delicious, healthy and easy-to prepare soup.  It is also very cost effective -   hams are very inexpensive at most grocery stores right now.  You can serve a large family, a small one with lots of leftovers, or a gathering for the Superbowl.  Enjoy!

 Ingredients:

• One small ham, not spiral, cut into one-inch cubes, enough for eight 8 cups
• One large onion, diced, enough for one cup
• 4 cups diced raw carrots
• 4 cups diced celery
• 5 (or more) garlic cloves, diced
• One 29 oz can Mexican-style hominy (Jaunita’s or Teasdale’s brand), optional
• 80 oz low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Juice of half a fresh lemon
• One bay leaf
• 1 tsp. ground pepper

 Instructions:

 1.      If you have a slow cooker, I recommend using it for this recipe.  Put all ingredients in cooker in the morning, except for lemon and heavy cream. 

2.      Let ingredients cook for up to 8 hours. 

3.      After it has cooked, remove two cups of soup, including vegetables and meat, place in blender and puree.  Put ingredients back in cooker.  This will thicken the base.

4.      Add heavy cream and lemon juice.  Stir.

5.      Let cook on low for about another half hour.  Add some water hot water if more liquid is needed, about one cup.

6.      When ready to serve, use a measuring cup to visualize a 2 ½ cup serving.  For each serving, put a blend of juice, meat and vegetables into each bowl to get a balanced meal.

Variations:  Don’t like ham?  Use chicken.  Want to reduce your carbohydrate intake?  Eliminate or half the amount of hominy in recipe.  Don’t like heavy cream?  Use some Cream of Celery condensed soup.

Nutritional Value:  Each 2 ½ cup serving contains approximately 30 grams of protein, 12 grams of fat, 19 grams of net carbohydrates, and for those of you who must know the caloric count, 310 calories.

Posted in Recipe of the Month | 1 Comment