Bean and Bacon Soup

6 Cups Chicken Stock or Broth, FF and Low Sodium
1 Cup Dry Navy Beans (soak beans night before or use
quick cook method)
6 Slices Oscar Meyer Center Cut Bacon
14.5 oz Can of Hunts All Natural Petite Diced Tomatoes
with Green Chilies
1 Small Onion diced apprx 1/2 cup
2 Med size Carrots...diced small
1 Celery Stalk cut in Large Chunks
1 Medium Potato diced very small
3 Cloves of Garlic minced
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 cups Water

Dice your bacon and render in a dutch oven with 1/2 TBSP of Olive oil. When cooked but not quite crisp remove from pan and drain. You should have no more than about 2 TBSP of drippings and olive oil, add your carrots and onion and sautee on medium heat until tender about 5 min. Add the garlic and bacon back into the pan and cook a couple minutes more. Add your tomatoes and dry ingredients stirring until well incorporated. Add the remaining ingredients leaving the beans til last. I do not care for cooked celery but like the flavor it adds, so I left the celery in large chunks and removed it when the soup was ready. You may cut in smaller dice and leave in if you like. Stir gently and lower your heat to a low simmer cooking covered for about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs stirring often. You may remove the lid last half hour of you like your soup thicker or if too thick add water to your liking. It will make approximately 10-12 cups of soup depending on adding more or less water.

Number of Servings: 10

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user VPMMOM.