Slow Cooker White Bean Soup

Call it White Bean Soup, Navy Bean Soup, Ham and Beans, Tuscan Bean Soup, Rosemary Bean Soup, Italian Bean Soup, or whatever else you want.  It's beans, it's healthy, cheap, and really good.

I told you I was going to use that $30 ham wisely.  Here's another recipe:

1 pound dried navy beans (or cannellini if you can find them, I can't)
1 whole onion
rosemary to taste (fresh is better, but if it's the middle of winter and there is 2 feet of snow on the ground, use dried)
chicken stock to cover
salt and pepper
ham bone (or leave it out if you didn't have ham the night before)


Rinse and inspect beans for rocks.  I've recently learned (thanks, Mrs. Arnold!) that you don't have to soak the beans overnight if you cook them all day in the crock pot.  Put the beans in the crock pot with the onion, Salt-N-Pepa, ham bone, and rosemary, and then cover with chicken stock and water.   Cook on low for 8-10 hours or longer.  Remove all ham bone and onions, and puree beans with an immersion blender or food processor.  Taste for Salt-N-Pepa (oh yes I did it again); you'll probably need more salt.  Add big hunks of leftover ham to serve.