A pound of dried white beans with carrots, onion, celery and herbs, cooked in a slow cooker until the beans soften and the broth thickens.
Eight servings at 228 calories, with nearly thirteen grams of fibre each.
Why the recipe rules out kidney beans
The notes say to avoid red kidney beans and other dark beans, and the reason is worth knowing because people substitute beans freely.
Raw kidney beans contain a lectin called phytohaemagglutinin, which causes severe nausea and vomiting. It is destroyed by boiling, but a slow cooker on low can sit below the temperature needed to break it down, and undercooked kidney beans can actually contain more of it than raw ones.
If you want to use kidney beans in a slow cooker, soak them and then boil them hard for at least ten minutes before they go in. That destroys the lectin completely.
Great Northern, navy and cannellini beans do not carry this concern in the same way, which is why the recipe specifies them.
Soak the beans overnight
Four to twelve hours refrigerated, with water two to three inches above the beans.
Soaking shortens the cook time considerably and makes the beans easier to digest, since some of the indigestible sugars leach into the soaking water.
Sort through them first. Dried beans occasionally contain small stones or grit, and finding one with your teeth is unpleasant.
Refrigerate while soaking rather than leaving them on the counter. Beans in warm water for twelve hours can begin to ferment.
If you forgot to soak
Two options, and both work.
Rinse them and cook as normal, allowing eight to ten hours rather than four to five. Or use the quick soak: cover with two inches of water, boil two to three minutes, turn off the heat, cover and stand an hour, then drain and rinse.
The quick soak gets you most of the way there in about seventy minutes.
Cook time decides the texture
Four to five hours on high gives a brothy soup. Longer gives a thicker, stew-like one.
The recipe’s method says six to eight hours for the thicker version and its notes say seven to eight. Either is fine; the longer you go the more beans break down and the thicker it gets.
Mashing some of the beans against the side of the crock is the shortcut if you want it thicker without more time.
Salt at the end, not the start
Half a teaspoon, added after cooking.
There is long-standing debate about whether salting beans early toughens their skins. What is not debated is that this soup reduces slightly over five hours, and salting at the start means you cannot judge the final concentration.
Season at the end and taste. The broth carries 108mg of sodium per serving as written, which is remarkably low for a soup.
The acid at the end is not optional
One to two teaspoons of lemon juice or cider vinegar, listed as optional.
It is listed that way and I would treat it as essential. Beans, root vegetables and herbs are all soft and earthy, and after five hours the pot has no brightness in it at all.
A teaspoon of acid does not make the soup taste sour. It makes everything else taste more distinct.
Fresh rosemary, dried sage
Half a tablespoon of fresh rosemary and half a teaspoon of dried rubbed sage.
The split is deliberate. Rosemary holds up to long cooking and stays aromatic; fresh is better than dried here. Sage is more delicate fresh and dried rubbed sage is designed for exactly this kind of long simmer.
Storing
Three to four days refrigerated, or three months frozen. <p>The vegetables and beans soften further on thawing, so a frozen batch comes out closer to the stew-like end regardless of how you cooked it. ## Adding ham A leftover ham bone or chopped ham adds smokiness and body, and the recipe suggests it. Add it at the start so it has the full cook time to give up its flavour.
Note that ham pushes the sodium up substantially from the 108mg per serving this recipe achieves without it.
Bay leaves
One or two, tucked in and removed before serving. They are not edible and a whole bay leaf in a mouthful is unpleasant, so count them in and count them out.
Slow Cooker Vegetable Bean Soup
Description
A high fibre vegetable and white bean soup made in the slow cooker with dried beans.
Ingredients:
Instructions
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Sort through the beans discarding any shrivelled ones or grit. Rinse in a colander then cover with water 2 to 3 inches above the beans. Refrigerate and soak overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours. Drain and rinse before using
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Add the soaked beans, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, rosemary, sage and black pepper to the slow cooker. Cover with the vegetable broth and water and stir to combine. Tuck in the bay leaves and cover with the lid
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Cook on HIGH 4 to 5 hours for a brothy soup, or 6 to 8 hours for a thicker stew-like one. Gently mash some of the beans if you want it thicker without the extra time
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Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season with the salt, then taste and adjust the herbs and pepper
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Stir in the lemon juice or vinegar and garnish with fresh herbs before serving.
Note
The source rules out red kidney beans and the reason matters: raw kidney beans contain phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin that causes severe nausea and vomiting, and a slow cooker can sit below the temperature needed to destroy it. Undercooked kidney beans can contain more of it than raw ones. To use them, boil hard for at least 10 minutes first. Great Northern, navy and cannellini do not carry the same concern. Soak the beans 4 to 12 hours refrigerated rather than on the counter. If unsoaked, allow 8 to 10 hours or use the quick soak method. The source method says 6 to 8 hours for a thicker soup and its notes say 7 to 8; either works. Salt at the end. The optional acid at the end is worth treating as essential. Keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen.