Bean Soup With Bacon

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 7 slices hickory smoked-thick sliced bacon
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• 15 1/2 ounces great northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 15 1/2 ounces pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth

Recipe

• 1 cut away any excess fat from strips of bacon.
• 2 dice bacon, and add to a skillet; brown the bacon evenly.
• 3 remove bacon from skillet, add to a 3-quart saucepan; but reserving the bacon grease.
• 4 add the diced vegetables to the skillet; (along with the bacon grease) season with salt and pepper.
• 5 saute vegetables in the skillet, for 4 minutes.
• 6 add minced garlic to the skillet, and cook for 1 minute more.
• 7 add the cooked vegetables to the saucepan, then add the beans, broth, and the thyme.
• 8 cover saucepan, and bring soup to a simmer; simmer the soup for about 11 minutes, until the carrots seem cooked, but not overly cooked.
• 9 this makes 1-1/2 quarts of soup.
• 10 note: for this recipe, i used farmland's hickory smoked thick sliced bacon. also, when making this soup, the size of canned beans used in soup may vary. the first time i made this soup, i had added 1-(15.8 oz.) can of great northern beans, and the second time, i used 1-(15.5 oz.) can.