15 Bean Soup

I have purchased Hurst’s HamBeens 15 Bean Soup several times in the past for my science students to use for classification activities and making dichotomous keys, but have never actually made a batch of the soup with the mix until now.  The package boasts of being “high fiber” and “low fat” and includes clear cooking instructions for making a batch of basic soup.

(Please note that the soup above was NOT made with student-handled beans!)

I do not usually cook with ham, but since the recipe called for it I figured I’d give it a try.  This soup recipe could be a good way to use up leftover ham after a holiday gathering, and it makes a fairly large batch of filling, high protein soup.  If I buy this soup mix again for cooking purposes, I will probably try one of the recipes on the Hurst Beans website, as there are quite a few interesting, healthful, and kitchen-tested recipes available to choose from.  I will probably also omit the ham flavored powder. I am fairly certain that it added an odd sweet flavor to the soup that I needed to balance out with large quantities of hot sauce…