The dish on leftovers

The New Year is off to a good start for me, at least food wise. Nearly a week into 2012 and I'm feeling satisfied with what I've eaten so far and motivated to try some new things in the kitchen this year. But before I can get into all that, I have to figure out what to do with all my holiday leftovers.

The simple way to deal with leftovers is to reheat and eat whatever you originally made. I do that sometimes, but when I have something that lends itself to reinvention, I like to take that challenge in hopes of discovering something new and delicious.

Which brings me to my biggest leftover at the moment, a "genuine" Honey Baked Ham from the Honey Baked Ham store (www.honeybaked.com). This ham is delicious eaten right off the bone, heated up with some side dishes or piled onto rolls for sandwiches.The bone and some of the ham will be used  for a Fat Tuesday batch of red beans and rice come February. The rest is going into a ham and bean soup that is hearty, flavorful and good for you.

I started with a bag of 6 Bean Soup from The Women's Bean Project, ($5.75, www.thewomensbeanproject.com ) a nonprofit organization that helps women in need gain life and employment skills while working to produce gourmet food products. Learn more about the Women's Bean Project here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/11/womens-bean-project-empowers_n_1200588.html?ref=denver-impact#s605473&title=Making_Jewelry

I didn't soak the beans overnight, which is recommended. Instead I followed alternate instructions on the package and microwaved the beans, covered with water, on high for 15 minutes. If you do this, make sure you use a good sized microwave-safe dish. Mine was a little small and the water overflowed all over the inside of my microwave. It was a mess, but the beans turned out okay.

I  dumped the beans into a crock pot, along with the seasoning packet that came with them and some garlic, and let the whole thing cook for about 6 hours on high. About 3 hours in, I added some onions, carrots, celery and of course, the ham. As a last minute addition, I chopped up some kale and tossed that in there too. A little salt and pepper and the result was an easy, inexpensive, and hearty dinner for a cold winter night!