Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

I got this recipe from My Whole Food Life and adapted it just slightly. It takes literally minutes to put together, but it took me twice as long to make it as it should, which I'll explain in the directions, but next time it should go a lot more smoothly. It tasted wonderful when it was finally made and it was perfect for a freezing Winter day here in Wisconsin! This recipe makes an enormous batch, so we had leftovers for a couple of days, too, which always makes me happy because leftovers are my absolute favorite food!

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

4 C dried black beans, soaked overnight, rinsed, and drained)

4 C vegetable broth

1 yellow onion, diced

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin (I used WAY less, like maybe 1/4 tsp)

1/2 tsp oregano

3 cloves garlic, diced

salt, to taste

The original directions say to put all ingredients in the crock pot, cook on high for 1 hour, then cook on low for 3-4 hours. I did that and the beans were NOWHERE NEAR cooked. They were still hard as rocks. So I don't know if it's my crock pot or what, but I ended up refrigerating it for the night and resuming cooking, for the entire rest of the next day, until the beans were finally cooked. The texture was definitely different, but the flavor was exquisite.

So next time, I'm thinking I need to cook the beans part way on the stove after soaking and draining them and then using them in this recipe.

Other than the fact that this dish took me way too long to make, it's a really great recipe and one that we'll definitely have again!

White Bean and Kale Stew

This is a DELICIOUS, quick, and very simple stew that I found on the whole living website and modified a bit to accommodate our preferences (and what I had in the fridge). You can basically add anything you want to it, you can make it more or less spicy as you desire (I spiced it up quite a bit because my husband and I both have head colds and I thought it'd be good for us), and every single ingredient is healthy and nutritious. It's a vegetarian dish that even my husband, the meat lover, ate 2 huge bowls of (after sweetly suggesting that one time, we try it with sausage :))!  Make extra for delectable leftovers!

White Bean and Kale Stew

serves 2-3

The night before:

Put about 1/2 lb white beans to soak in bowl with plenty of water.

To cook beans (an hour or so before making soup):

Pour pre-soaked beans in saucepan and cover with water. Boil/simmer until cooked/soft, about an hour. Drain and set aside.

To make soup:

knob of coconut oil (google says that's about a walnut size up to 2 tbsp)

2 medium onions (I used extra)

sea salt

chili flakes

5 bay leaves

1 tsp smoked paprika (DON'T leave this out! It's what makes this soup so amazing!)

1 tomato, chopped into large chunks

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (the original recipe didn't call for this, but I wanted extra spice)

6 cloves garlic, sliced (I used extra)

2 C vegetable broth

2 1/2 C cooked white beans

2 C packed shredded kale leaves

sea salt and black pepper to taste

olive oil for garnish

1. Heat coconut oil in large stockpot.

2. Slice onions and add to pot with a couple pinches of sea salt, a pinch of chili flakes, the bay leaves, and the smoked paprika. Stir and cook until onions have softened; a few minutes.

3. Add tomato, jalapeno, and garlic. Cook for an additional few minutes, until all vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally.

4. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil.

5. Add cooked beans and season to taste with a little more sea salt and black pepper.

6. Add kale leaves, stir in, and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes. For best results, do not add kale until you know you're ready to serve in 5-10 minutes.

7. Serve in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil on top (I forgot to add the olive oil and it still tasted great).

Next time, I hope to use homemade vegetable broth! Remember to save the stems, ends, scraps, etc. of all veggies in a ziploc bag in the freezer if you want to try making your own vegetable broth.

Serve with bread and butter. Enjoy!!!