Far, far better than Navy Bean Soup! By several orders of magnitude, in my not-so-humble opinion. No false modesty here, this stuff is incredibly yummy! And I do have my chief tester’s opinion to back me up. He loves to play the guessing game, where he tries to guess the ingredients in my recipes. He’s getting quite skilled at it. In spite of the fact that it was Monday the first time I made it (& therefore going to be meatless), the first guess was beef broth! That’s how rich & hearty this soup is. In reality, it’s not only meatless, it’s vegan! It makes enough for 6 people, or 2 greedy people for dinner & next-day lunch. It’s quite filling, & you really won’t believe the calorie count. I had to double check & triple check before I believed it myself! 

This recipe is the end product of countless batches of soup, which were all good, but they always lacked….something. In retrospect, a couple of somethings. First, the beans. I can’t stress enough how important the beans are. They are, after all, the stars of the meal. My experience with grocery store beans has been mixed, at best. Dreadful, often. You just don’t know how long it’s been since the beans were harvested, and old beans just never get the right flavor or texture. Really old ones never get soft at all. If I want crunchy soup, I’ll make Gazpacho de Julia! I now buy all my beans from Ranch Gordo. I have found them to be, without exception, fresher & tastier than anything I ever bought from a grocery store. Even Wegmans! Yes, they’re more expensive, but at $6 for the main ingredient for a dinner for 6, that’s still pretty darn cheap. Of course, if you can find a bean supplier locally, that’s even better! Fresher beans don’t take as long to cook, so if you’re using up your pantry beans before ordering the good stuff, you’ll need a longer cooking time. 

Next in importance is the broth. I used to make my soups with chicken broth, but wanted to get away from that for Meatless Monday. I tried every brand of vegetable broth I could find, & didn’t care for any of them. Water by itself was too boring. Then I tried making my own Homemade Vegetable Broth, and haven’t looked back since. What a difference this stuff makes! I make a big batch & freeze it in 1- and 2-cup ziptop bags. Then I always have some when I need it. For this soup, since there’s no meat or dairy, I just put the frozen broth in the bottom of the pot & put the beans & veggies on top of it. Easy peasy!

(Printer-friendly recipe at the bottom of this page)

Ingredients:

1 lb. dry yellow eye beans – you can substitute Navy beans, if you must

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1 (14.5 oz) can no salt added petit cut diced tomatoes

1 large carrot

1 large celery stalk

6 ounces baby yukon gold potatoes, or 1 large

1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp smoked paprika

⅛ tsp ground sage

1 large bay leaf

4 cups Homemade Vegetable Broth

2 cups water

Preparation:

1.) Pick over and rinse the beans, then transfer to the slow cooker.

2.) Chop the onion. Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions, and cook until starting to soften. Using a garlic press, add the garlic to the pan. Cook until fragrant, stirring frequently. Add contents of the pan to the slow cooker pot. (Notice that my onion has black streaks. This isn’t harmful – you can just wash it off & go on about your business.)

3.) Add the can of tomatoes (with juice) to the still-warm skillet. Stir, scraping the bottom, just long enough to get all the browned bits up from the bottom. Add pan contents to the slow cooker pot.

4.) Chop the carrots & celery into ~½” pieces, and the potato into ~¾” pieces, & add it all to the slow cooker pot.

5.) Add the fresh herbs and dried seasonings to the pot, nestling the bay leaf a little down among the veggies.

6.) Pour vegetable broth & water over all. Stir only enough to make sure all the beans are in water. Cook on low for 7 – 8 hours.

7.) Just before serving, very carefully (it’s hot!), use an immersion blender to partially blend the beans. I like to leave about half of them whole, blending the rest to thicken the soup. You could also use a food processor or blender, but be extra careful with those. The soup is hot, and the steam creates pressure – it could splat back out and burn you. Or you could skip this step altogether for a more vegetable soup-like consistency.