NaBloPoMoNoProFoNo #7: Slow cooker love #RECIPE: Slow-cooked ham and bean soup

I love my slow cooker.  If I were forced to give up my kitchen doohickeys one by one, I think my slow cooker would be the last thing I'd get rid of. (Although, I'm not really clear who would do that to me). 

Ham and bean soup is one of my favorite things to make in the slow cooker: it's definitely in my top 5 slow cooker recipes. I'm going to guesstimate it's at about #3ish.  Soooooo, I was pretty bummed to learn that I couldn't find ham that passed The Kitchen Test at any of our grocery stores.  Nitrates!  Nitrates everywhere! :(

 

ANYWAYS, I improvised and made this soup yesterday with bits of cut-up pork loin (cooked first) instead of ham.  I'm not sure what to do about the ham issue long-term since nitrates genuinely concern me and I like ham.  But, that's a work in progress.  It turned out really good with cooked pork loin, for the record.

Slow cooker recipes are not inherently photogenic.  TRUST ME THIS IS GOOD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Without further ado...

Slow cooker ham and bean soup recipe

Adapted from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, my favorite slow cooker cookbook of all time despite its goofy name.

Ingredients:

To slow cook:

1 lb dried beans: great northern or navy, soaked overnight

1 onion, finely chopped

1 rib celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

Ham: any amount, from a few leftover pieces to a whole cut up ham steak. Your call!

1 t oregano

1 t sage

1 t garlic powder

6 cups chicken broth (or water, in a pinch)

After slow cooking:

salt

pepper

1.  Combine all the ingredients from the first list in the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours.

2.  Remove about two cups of the cooked soup and puree: with an immersion blender, a food processor, or a blender, whatever you prefer.  Add the puree back to the soup.  (Don't skip this step, it makes the broth delicious.)

3.  Add the salt and pepper to taste, and serve.  (How much salt you need will range from 1 t to none at all....depending on whether you used salted chicken broth or not).

 

 

YUMYUMYUM.  I consider this a dinner-worthy soup (clearly) but it also freezes well for lunches.