Black Bean and Ham Soup (aka ugly soup!)

This may be one of the ugliest soups I have ever put together, but the flavor was soooo good! It is really a "what in the world am I going to do with these leftovers" kind of deal. This is what I had on hand:* about 4 slices left over ham from Christmas, frozen (it was a brown sugar glazed ham, so it was sweet)
* 1 baggie of black beans, drained, frozen
* a small handful of baby carrots
* a take out container full of fried rice from the local Chinese restaurant, with extra brown sauce

Mmmm, no one is going to just eat any of that--at least not in my house (although I would). I'm thinking about the "swamp soup" my mother in law had in her fridge over Christmas break. It looked awful but sure tasted good, so let's turn it into soup!

I dump all the ingredients in a pot with a can of beef broth, sprinkle in dried onion flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I let it simmer until it started to thicken and gave it a try. It was really good! The subtle hint of sugar in the ham was balanced by the beans. The carrots gave it color and the rice made it even more filling. I wonder if I will ever be able to duplicate this?