Honorable Arfcommers, as always, my work had given each of us a ham for Xmas.  Et most of it up, but still have some stashed in the freezer, along with the ham bone and a big chunk of ham fat.  Bones, as you know, make killer bases to build off of for soup/stew, and a glob of fat can add muchly to the flavor of a dish.

At the same time, I also have some bags of Goya dried beans around, as well as a bag of lentils and a box of quinoa, leftovers from some beans-and-rice survival food experiments.  Being the smart feller that I am, the thot blitzkrieged in on me that “You know, I should take all that crap I need to get rid of, throw it all into a pot together, and cook it ALL up at onct!”  Brilliant, no?!?

SO, here’s what I got.  Good bit of ham, ham bone, and ham fat.  Partial bags of black beans, red kidney beans, central American red beans, lentils, and quinoa.  First thot is to toss ALL the beans into a big pot of water, soak for 24 hours, pour off soak water, put in new water, toss in ham bone, HUGE-ass diced onion, cook until done.  Then, add lentils, quinoa, diced ham, ham fat, maybe a pound of cooked bacon (b/c bacon makes EVERYTHING better!), and maybe some cream o’ tater soup or some such to thicken the stew.  Simmer until quinoa and lentils are done, serve over rice, and post dinner pix on Arf!

What sayeth the hivemind?  A recipe for awesomesauce?  Or for a three-day bellyache?

Make it like red beans and rice. Look into some Cajun-Texan recipes and then add some of what they do to your recipe.

Thank you.  Anyone else?

I love ham and bean soup, make it alot in the winter. The ham and bone from Christmas or holidays is perfect.  I use great northern or navy beans. Never have used red beans or other beans. But I have used the 15 bean mix.

Use a can of chicken broth in with the water. Simmer beans and ham for 2 hours then put in chopped carrots, onion, celery, garlic. If you have a bay leaf throw that in.  Simmer for 1 more hour.

Meat and beans, must be chili?  Wait, you call it beans and ham?

I think the best combo is ham and navy beans with a side of cornbread.

Do,the red beans wirh ham. Add chuncks of pumpkin
Eat as is.

The black Beans.   Add ham.  Slow cook
Add cilantro and onions. Queso fresco. Jalapenos

We've been eating a lot of soups here lately so I go easier with the beans on adding extra items or ingredients. I've been getting the Ham Beans from the store (northerns) fix about 1/3 bag use about a third of the seasoning in the bag, couple of twist on the pepper and salt grinders, add ham left over from Christmas, and put in a pressure cooker for about 50 minutes. We gobble it down with a fresh pan of cornbread.