Slowcooker Rosemary Bean and Bacon Soup

Well Green Bay got about 4 inches of snow last night..... it was 45 degrees on Saturday...I suppose I better just get accept the inevitable. As Ned Stark would say, "Winter is Coming!".  

What better way to warm up after a snowy evening that a big bowl of hot soup. On weeknights soups can be hard to get together because they take time to cook. Luckily I am a big fan of my slowcooker and love to utilize it for weeknight meals that are ready to eat when I come home.  I love bean soup of any type, and decided to create one of my favorite childhood soups- bean and bacon. I remember loving the canned soup as a kid and was excited to make  "grown-up" version. I love the flavor of rosemary with beans and decided to use that as my main herb (along with a little fresh thyme). I absolutely loved this soup and even with the long cook time the flavors of the herbs were prominent.  Another note on the preparation of the soup, make sure to get your bacon crispy and cut into small pieces. The bacon will not stay crispy while cooking, but the smaller pieces help the flavors get into each bite. If you want crispy bacon in the soup you could add it before you serve the soup. You will not get the smokey flavor in your soup, but will have crisper bacon.

Tonight I am getting my haircut and getting a few more more items prepped for Thanksgiving! Tonight I am making my herb butter, cranberry sauce and cornbread for my stuffing. In addition, I am making a cranberry bread to bring to work tomorrow.  I also stopped at Target last night and picked up a few new serving dished and a table runner.  I thought that since it was my first year to host that a few new pieces of decor were needed! 

Ingredients

1 pound great Northern beans, soaked overnight

1 pound of bacon cooked crisp and chopped

7 cups chicken stock (or chicken bone broth is you have some!)

2 1/2 cups water

2/3 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 white onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbl fresh thyme

2 Tbl fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 tsp black pepper

Salt, to taste

Instructions

Place soaked beans in the bottom of the slowcooker. Layer herbs, pepper, carrots, celery, onion bacon and garlic over the beans.  Pour water and stock over the top. Cover and cook on low 9-10 hours. Serve with crusty bread.