Hearty Navy Bean Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 cups dried navy beans
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup carrot, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup cooked ham, diced
2 cups chicken broth
2 1/2 cups water

Preparation

Rinse and sort beans. Cover with cold water and soak overnight.
Drain beans and place in a large soup kettle or Dutch oven.
Add tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, ham, broth and water. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat; cover and simmer until beans are tender, about 1-1/2 hours. Add more water if necessary.
(For a thicker soup, beans may be pureed in a food processor or blender and then returned to the kettle and heated through.) (I used a potato masher and mashed part of the bean mixture to make it thicker).