12W12S11: Bean and Ham Soup

I lost 4½ pounds last week. I don't get it either. Except for the exercising, I did exactly nothing different. I don't believe that 84-88 minutes of cardio-Pilates made that much of a difference, but who knows.

I also think that, unfortunately, I am going to have to change my goals soon, because when I lose more than 11 pounds, Lose It tells me that I will be eating under 1,200 calories per day, and that doesn't seem very reasonable to me. I've been doing okay with these gradual calorie drops, but I just think that fewer than 1,200 calories is not  healthy. It certainly won't be sustainable -- how am I going to keep from porking back up when I reach my goal and start eating "regular" again? But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Probably won't be for another few weeks or so. At that point I think I will change my weight-loss goals from 2 lbs. per week to 1½ lbs.

On the other hand: I am now closing in a weight that begins with a "1"! If you had told me back in May 2010 that I would be at this point right now, I would have laughed in your face. This might be the longest I have ever been on a continuous, sustained diet in maybe ever. So go me!

At this point in the proceedings, I'll come right out and tell you that I've been eating a lot of soup. I like soup, especially in the winter time, and it's pretty cheap and easy to make a relatively healthy lunch out of a can of soup. I try to watch my sodium as much as possible, and go with lower-sodium varieties, but one of the things that I like the most about soup is the saltiness. Don't know why, and I'm sure it's entirely psychosomatic, but I tend to feel more satisfied after I eat salty foods -- maybe it's all the extra water I drink afterwards, to try to compensate. Not sure.

I still like to make a nice family dinner on Sundays, so I've been going the soup route lately. It's pretty easy to make a soup that will satisfy the people in my house who are not on a diet and still make something that fits into my particular limitations. Last night, we had a wonderful bean and ham soup that took only 1½ hours to make, was totally delicious (I'd have brought the leftovers today if my husband hadn't snagged them), and was completely diet-friendly. I could still have a nice slab of bread with it, and everybody knows that broth-soaked bread is the best part of a family dinner. Here's the recipe (see asterisks at the end for possible adjustments).

Bean and Ham Soup
(This receipe makes 4-5 servings)

• 2 cans Great Northern beans, undrained*
• 12-ounce bag large-cut mirepoix*
• 1 clove garlic, minced*
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 quart vegetable stock*
• 1 pound ham steak, chopped or diced*
• Pepper to taste

In a large stockpot, combine beans, mirepoix, garlic, bay leaf, mustard powder, and stock. Bring to boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add ham and pepper. Stir to combine well. Adjust seasonings as needed. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and simmer for an additional 10-20 minutes or until soup is desired thickness. Serve with crusty bread, if desired.

*Adjustments*:

1. If you want to use a different kind of bean, go for it. The recipe I based this on called for Great Northern, so that's what I used, but navy beans would work well, and probably split peas. Also, I used canned beans, but of course you can use the equivalent of dried beans that have been soaked. In that case, you might want to add a ham bone and bay leaf to the soaking water, if you're into that kind of thing (discard the bone before finishing the soup). Also also, my husband said that he would actually like more beans, so next time I'm going to use three cans of beans. I thought this came out a little bit salty, so if I can't find reduced-sodium broth next time, I will rinse the beans and add extra water.
2. I buy already cut mirepoix at Wegman's because I am a lazy-ass, and also because celery tends to go limp before I use it all, so in this case, there is less waste. If you want to cut your own vegetables, the equivalent would be approximately 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, and 1 small or ½ large onion. You can obviously use more or less to taste (more veggies = better!). I will probably use 2 bags of veggies next time because I like veggies. And I use the large-cut instead of the standard small dice because my husband likes his vegetables chunky. In this particular case, I think the large cut was the way to go because nothing got super mushy.
3. Use more or less garlic to taste.
4. You use chicken stock instead, but I'm into vegetable stock right now, so that's what I used. I recommend using a lower-sodium stock if you can find one; otherwise, definitely rinse your beans. I did not have to add any salt at all to this soup, and as I mentioned, this was a little bit salty, even for me.
5. Use more or less ham to taste. We used a 1¼-lb. country ham steak and discarded the bone. It was perfect, just fell apart the right amount but still had a nice meaty texture and delicious flavor. I highly recommend using a bit of ham that has some marbling in it and some fat around the edges. You can trim this off if you want, but it gives an excellent flavor, and since there is almost no fat in the rest of the soup, you won't be overdoing it.

If you make it, let me know if you like it!