Six Bean Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 c. dry baby lima beans
1/4 c. white beans
1/4 c. black-eyed beans
1/4 c. garbanzo beans
1/4 c. pink beans
1/4 c. light red kidney beans
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped carrots
1/2 c. green bell pepper
1/2 c. minced parsley
1 clove chopped or minced garlic
2 (2 oz.) envelopes chicken noodle soup mix
1 whole crumbled bay leaf
1/2 tsp. fines herbes
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. margarine or butter
1 c. chopped fresh tomatoes
grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Soak beans by preferred method:
For each pound of dry beans, any variety, add 10 cups hot water.
May add up to 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of beans to help the beans absorb water more evenly. Heat to boiling, let boil 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Cover and set aside for at least one hour, but preferably four hours or more.
The longer soaking time is recommended to allow a greater amount of sugars to dissolve, thus helping the beans to be more easily digested.
Always discard the soak water.
To maintain color integrity, soak beans separately.