• 2 cups dried black beans
• 2 quarts vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter or oil (or combination)
• 1 large onion; chopped
• 2 cloves garlic; minced
• 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup celery; chopped
• 1 ham bone (optional) or 3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chopped thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Pinch cayenne pepper powder
• 1 1/2 cups ham, cooked and chopped; (optional)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• Salt & Black pepper to taste

1. Cover beans with  stock and bring to a boil for 3 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and let sit for 1 hour.
3. In a large soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in oil or butter until light golden.
4. Add celery and carrots and sauté for 2 minutes more.
5. Pour beans into soup pan and, if making the ham version, add the ham bone now.
6. For both versions, add more stock to cover the beans.
7. Add the mustard powder, cayenne pepper powder, thyme and bay leaf and simmer for 3 1/2 hours.
8. Add ham chunks, if preparing the ham version, and simmer for 15 minutes more.
9. For vegetarian version, add the tamari now and simmer for 15 minutes more.
10. For both versions, add lemon juice, sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
11. Serve either plain or with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream or with grated cheese.

You can prepare a vegetarian version or the standard ham version from this recipe. A trick for the vegetarian version, to replace the wonderful ham flavor, is to season to taste with Red Star nutritional yeast.