Thankfully, both split pea soup and navy bean soup are not difficult to make and infinitely better than the canned variety. In this recipe, some of the beans are pureed with a handful of parmesan ...

Pour ½ cup soup into blender ... ¼ cups of any of 5 of the following: navy, red, kidney, or black beans, black eyed peas, len-tils, split green or yellow peas, barley, pinto or romano beans.

A lemony, herby bean salad with lots of crunch ... then spoon it into each bowl of soup. Instead of using canned tuna, this recipe puts you in control of the quality of the tuna and how long ...

Drain the soaked beans and discard the water. Place the beans, ham hocks, chicken broth, and bay leaf in a soup pot; do not add salt at this stage. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 hour ...