Already Cooked Ham

I found recipe number 2 on my list of 31 quick and easy (most importantly tastes great!) recipes. After doing a little research I found a black bean soup recipe that is, in my book, a pretty good recipe. It's not a wow recipe like my pork with grapes posted early but after eating the leftovers a day later I reconsidered my original plan to not include it in my 31 and decided to make it number 2 on my list (I have no idea why I set the number at 31).

Anyway, there is website called All Recipes that has tons of great recipes on there. Normally the CD Kitchen is my go to website but not this time. I found a recipe called "Fast and Delicious Black Bean Soup" and I knew that this was it! (why? because you don't just throw out the word delicious all the time in a recipe title - so it must be good!). AND there were 7o-something reviews on this recipe all of which raved about it. If you don't read recipe reviews, you should. Sometimes people will tell you that the recipe needs more red pepper or another can of beans added - all great things to know! None of these reviews tell you where to find all ready cooked ham in the grocery store or what the heck already cooked ham looks like but I'll tell you that in case you are as clueless as I am.

So after locating this recipe. I called Jason to fill him in on what we were eating. He didn't sound thrilled. I asked him if he had ever had black bean soup and he couldn't recall. He wonders if it was the same stuff they give you on the side of your burrito at a Mexican Restaurant. No I say, it's not. But trust me you'll like it. :)

I printed it and went to the grocery store to get what I needed. Everything was relatively easy to find but the already cooked ham really got to me. What does that look like? I know you're laughing or probably shaking your head. Yes I googled it before I went to the store and that's when I realized that it looks a lot like lunch meat or the meat you find in a lunchable. Duh, Carrie!

I couldn't find it anywhere and of course I'm on my cell phone talking to Bowman, one of my friends. Bowman says its by the lunch meat. It's not. She says it's by the regular meat. I don't see it. She tells me I can substitute sausage and add something and then something else and it will taste like ham. I tell her the truth. Even if I tried to do that God knows what will happen. I will forget something important about her directions and the next thing I know we'll be eating sausage seasoned with cocoa and paprika and cinninamon. This brings back a memory.
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I immediately think of the last time I tried to remember a recipe she told me. She tells me this detailed recipe over the phone for some really interesting spaghetti. It's so good and so easy to make she says. Bowman's a great cook, so when she tells me this recipe I immediately stored it in my mind because I wanted to use it later to impress Jason who at that time I had only been dating a few months. One day I call him over for dinner and throw some spaghetti on his plate with a big confident I made this all by myself smile. Spaghetti made with noodles, butter, lemon juice, and salt - that's the only ingrediants I could remember from the recipe she told me. After a few painful-to-watch attempts to eat my impressive spaghetti, he tells me it is in fact- horrible.

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Let's get back to our story.

I did eventually find the cooked ham, but it was only after I paced thirty times back in forth between the lunch meat and the regular meat. Guess what?! It's in the regular meat section in a lunch meat type bag. I grab one when I really needed two. Here's where I tell you how important it is to know your measurement conversions. If you are like me, and you crammed for tests and the moment you walked out of the door you forgot everything then let me tell you something- you are in for a cooking disaster! Everyone on the planet knows that 8 oz. equals a cup but I didn't think about it when I grabbed the bag of meat in the store. I was an entire cup short in my recipe. Thank goodness I bought a bag of finely chopped ham because every bite of my soup had some ham in it. I really recommend ham that's chopped really small for this reason.

When I got home I immediately went to work making the soup. The soup calls for a large pot. This doesn't mean the largest pot you have. That's what I thought. It's just not necessary. I don't think I got even a quarter of the pot filled. You can see the pot I chose in the picture. I almost used a bigger pot than that. Maybe they should have specified in the directions.

As I was adding the ingredients, I had my doubts. I wondered what could make it taste so great since most of the ingredients were...well, bland. When it came time to pour our bowls of soup I topped them with the scoop of sour cream and shredded cheese it called for. Apparently the sour cream and cheese were the perfect compliment, because it did turn out delicious. Just like the recipe said. It wasn't mind blowing. It wasn't wow. It was nice and it was delicious.

In the end I give the recipe a B+, because it wasn't as spicy as I had hoped for but I think that with a little red pepper, problem solved. I give the leftovers and A- ............ a minus because they are leftovers but an A because I thought the leftovers were actually better! Jason had two bowls of leftovers and I had one. That's says alot.


Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, chopped 1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans If you want a thicker soup get 3 cans and puree 2 of them 1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth

2 cups cubed cooked ham 1/4 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt ground black pepper to taste 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1 cup sour cream

Directions:

1.	Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic, and cook 5 minutes, until tender. Mix in 1 can black beans and chicken broth.
2.	In a blender, puree remaining can of beans until smooth. Mix into the pot. Bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Mix in ham, cumin, salt, and pepper. Simmer 20 minutes. Garnish with Cheddar cheese and sour cream to serve.

So this goes down as number 2.

1. Pork with Roasted Grapes
2. Easy and Delicious Black Bean Soup