Bean with Bacon Soup

Ingredients:
2 lbs dry navy beans (soaked and drained), chicken stock, 1/2 lb bacon, onions, red pepper, salt.

Chop and cook your bacon until the fat is rendered (about 5 minutes). I take the bacon out the pan and replace it with the onions and pepper. I cook the onions until they are translucent but not quite caramelized.

Add all of your ingredients to the crock pot. Fill the pot the rest of the way to the top with water. Cook on highest setting for 3-4 hours.

I remove the lid and keep the crock pot on high to let it condense just a bit for about an hour. My pot needed more salt.

Yummy soup to serve as an appetizer or for lunch on a cold day.

My kids prefer to strain out the beans and serve it over rice.

Either way, this is one of my favorite ways to eat beans.

Bean Pot

A slow-cooker makes the perfect bean pot. It cooks them perfectly through and you don't have to keep an eye on them. Toss them in with enough water in the morning, set them on high, and your beans are ready by dinner.

I have this StayorGo Hamilton Beach slow cooker. It's large enough to hold 2lbs of beans and plenty of water. I like the clips on the side that make it easier to take to a pot luck.

I haven't used it to cook a pot roast in a very long time. Really, aside from cooking my beans, I don't use it for much else. I do want a small one to make yogurt in. Maybe I'll make that a goal for the New Year.

Lentils

I really like lentils. They are like a super food. 1 cup of cooked lentils packs 18g of protein, around 200 calories, and around 40 carbs with about 20g fiber.

I cook my lentils in the slow-cooker like I would any other beans. My slowcooker is my bean pot. It is the easiest way to get fantastic beans that are perfectly tender without being overdone.

Ingredients:

1lb bag of lentils, stock (chicken, vegetable, you can even just use water), onion, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper.

You can skip this next step and just add the raw onions and garlic to the slow-cooker. I like the extra flavor of browning them together in a pan with a touch of olive oil. It sweetens the onions and mellows the garlic just a bit.

Now toss all of your ingredients into the slow-cooker. Make sure you have enough liquid to cover about 1 inch above your lentils. You don't really need more than that, you don't lose water if your slow-cooker seals properly.

Set them on high and cook them for about 2 hours.

I like to serve them as a side dish for dinner, and eat the leftovers over rice for lunch.

Cooking lentils used to scare me. But in the slow-cooker, they cook just right. They should be soft but still hold their shape when you dish them up.