Alright, inspired by rps Senate Bean soup, and burned out by the onslaught of vegetables from the CSA, I went and made this because it just sounded good tonight. It's a quick ham and bean soup. Simple stuff goes into it:
Shread the carrot and onion of the big slots of a cheese grater -- helps it cook fast.
Throw that in a pot with the 1-½ cups water, one chicken bouillon cube, 3-4 bay leaves, and some diced ham and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain the stuff off the canned beans, rinse with water a few times, and then throw them in the pot. I added some fresh parsley. Cook another 10 minutes.
Voila!
Pretty tasty knock-off of a soup that usually takes a lot of time to make.