White Bean Soup with Peppers and Bacon - Recipe #59

When the wind howls and sheets of rain soak you as you arrive home, it is time for soup! I hadn't made this one from the January 2000 issue of Cooking Light for a while - mostly because I have very little patience for cooking beans. This time, I just soaked them overnight instead of using the quick-cook method mentioned in the recipe. I set the bread machine on the fast cycle, so that we'd have plenty of sopping fodder.

White Bean Soup with Peppers and Bacon

• 1 1/2 c. dried navy beans
• 5 bacon slices
• 2 c. chopped red bell pepper
• 2 c. chopped onion
• 1 c. chopped carrot
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 t. onion powder
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 1/4 t. black pepper
• 1/8 t. ground red pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 (16-oz) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley

Sort and wash beans; place in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; bring to a boil, and cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hr. Drain beans (I skipped this entire process by setting out the beans to soak in the morning before leaving for work).

Cook the bacon in pan over medium heat until crisp (I can never seem to get it as crisp as I'd like). Remove bacon from pan; crumble and set aside. Add bell pepper and the next 8 ingredients to drippings in pan; saute 10 min. or until browned. Stir in the broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add beans. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until beans are tender.

Place 3 c. of the bean mixture in a blender and process until smooth. Return the pureed mixture to pan (I got an immersion blender for Christmas this year and used that instead). Stir in bacon and parsley.