Anasazi Beans and Ham

I love Anasazi Beans, which are heirloom beans from out West around Colorado.  My dear friend, Kristy, sent me some freshly processed beans last year and I still have some I decided to cook with my leftover ham from Easter.

First step is rehydrating the beans.  Either soak them overnight in cool water - which I didn't do because I just thought about cooking them this morning.  Or, boil them in a large pot of water for about an hour, drain, then cook - which I did.

Meanwhile, small dice a large onion and start to sauté it in some olive oil - about a tablespoon or two.  At this point you can start to add your spices to fry them up a bit.  I added the following:  1 Tbsp Cumin, 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika, and 1 Tbsp Chile Powder. (If I would have had coriander, I would have used that, too.)

I also chopped up the ham in bit sized pieces and fried them up a bit, too.  The smell in the kitchen was heavenly!

I then added a can of Chopped Green Chiles and fried that up a bit, too.  Then I put the onion/ham/chile mixture in the crock pot and covered the mixture with water - after I added the can of Green Chile Enchilada Sauce.  I drained the beans - which had boiled for an hour, and added them to the crock pot.  I made sure the liquid totally covered all of the beans and ham and such.  

I diced up a few cloves of garlic and put that in the Crock Pot, also.

I covered the Crock Pot and made sure it was on High and let the mixture simmer for several hours - like 4.  

I added salt to taste and chopped fresh parsley, cilantro, and green onion for garnish to serve with fresh baked cornbread.  YUM!