What's better to warm you up on a chilly 10-degree day? Spicy Cajun 15-bean soup; I "ga-ron-tee" (my best Justin Wilson impression)! I picked up a super colorful bag of beans at the supermarket last week, and the recipe on the back looked interesting. If there's one thing we like at my house, it's flavorful Cajun-style food: gumbo, jambalaya, beans and rice, dirty rice, peel-and-eat boiled shrimp, etc. The spicier the better! Bring on the Kleenex and ice water! Actually, I almost always accompany the spicy dishes with cornbread muffins, to cut the "heat" a little.

This soup is sort of like a Cajun chili, with a lot, well, 15, types of beans! The bag of colorful beans is from Hurst's HamBeens Brand (www.hambeens.com), Indianapolis. The following recipe was taken from the back of the bag, and of course, I may have "tweaked" it just a little!

Cajun 15 Bean Soup

20-ounce bag Hurst's Cajun 15 bean soup mixture, including Cajun flavor packet (which, to my knowledge included Paprika, garlic, smoke flavor, sugar, salt, dehydrated onion and lemon juice, among other things)
1-2 pounds regular or mild Italian sausage (I used 2 links of hot Italian sausage)
1 large onion, chopped (I used half a large onion)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes (I used a bag of stewed tomatoes I froze this summer)
juice of one lemon (I used 2 tablespoons lemon juice from a bottle)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (I used a little over a teaspoon of dried)

Place beans in a large pot, cover with 2 quarts of water.  Allow beans to soak overnight, or at least 8 hours.  After soaking, drain water and add 2 quarts of water. Bring beans to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 2 1/2 hours.  In a skillet, saute onion, garlic and sausage, until sausage is browned.  Drain excess grease and add contents to beans along with tomatoes, lemon juice and Cajun flavor packet. Simmer another 30 minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.

I added an additional 2 cups of water for the final 30 minute simmer because the beans soaked up most of the water. The package said ham or polish sausage could be substituted for the Italian sausage, but they did not need to be browned in the skillet first. Let me tell you, the combination of the hot Italian sausage and whatever was in the "Cajun flavor packet" made this soup SUPER spicy...in a good way!