Lazy Day Kale and White Bean Soup

OK….I know it’s summer and I maybe should be writing about a cool refreshing salad, but I love soup all year long.  I also love easy meals in the summer.  So what’s not to love about a soup that you can throw into the slow cooker and then forget it?  You can be outside enjoying the beautiful weather while your slow cooker is doing all of the work.

I have been experimenting lately with cooking dried beans in the slow cooker and they have turned out beautifully every time, so I decided that I wanted to try a bean soup.  This soup is chock full of flavor and nutrition.  The kale and the white beans taste great together and the combination of beef  and chicken stock gives the soup a nice rich flavor.  Of course, if you wanted this to be vegetarian, you could use vegetable stock instead.

And did I mention how easy it is?  You don’t even have to soak the beans ahead of time when you cook them in the slow cooker.  After you chop your veggies, you just throw everything in, set it and forget it.  This soup also freezes well, so you could divide it into individual servings, freeze it and have a quick and delicious lunch or dinner on another day.

So get crazy and make some soup this summer!

Slow Cooker Kale and White Bean Soup

• 1 lb dried white beans (I used great northern)
• 3 carrots
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 tbsp herbes de provence
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 quart beef stock
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

Slice carrots and celery.  Chop onion and garlic.

Cut the kale leaves away from the stem and then chop the leaves.

To the slow cooker, add the beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, stocks, water, herbes de provence, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine and then add kale to the mixture.

Cover and cook on high for 5 to 6 hours until beans are tender.  Stir in parsley and add more salt if needed.

ENJOY!

Shared at these great blogs:

Mandy’s Recipe Box

A Little Nosh

Miz Helen’s Country Cottage

Basilmomma