Very Veggie Ham Soup

This is a nice way to use leftover holiday ham but it is so good, you may want to buy ham just for this soup. I made this when trying to use up left over ham and I didn’t have high hopes for the soup, just wanted to make a dinner using leftovers.  This was great; you won’t feel bad about making this again and again. When you make it in the crock pot, it is very quick to assemble and the flavors blend so nicely that once you try it, it will make you hope there is holiday ham leftover.   The half and half is optional and the soup tastes great without it but the half and half adds another dimension to the flavor that is really great.  If you don’t have left over ham, don’t fret, you can buy diced ham in most grocery stores and it would be perfect for this recipe.

1 ½ pounds diced ham, about 4 or 5 cups depending on the size of the dice

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

6 cups coarsely chopped cabbage, about half of a large head of cabbage, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes

3 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes (14-16 ounces)

1 can corn kernels (11-14 ounces)

¼ cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1 cup fat free ½ and ½

Add all ingredients to crockpot except corn, parsley and ½ and ½.  Cook in crockpot on high for 5 hours.  Add corn, ½ and ½ and parsley and cook on high for another 30 minutes.  I didn’t add a bit of salt to this recipe, the ham is salty enough.  This is quick to throw together and  the flavors really come together in the crockpot to make a fabulous meal.  Add a tossed green salad and a great loaf of bread and you have a meal to remember.  I hope you enjoy it.  Karen