Friday, March 20, 2020

The Great Northern Bean is a thing

The Great Northern Bean is a thing. How odd of a name for a bean, yes? I mean I don't know the meaning of any other bean names, but this one? I was SURE that was just a weird generic name - nope, that's the name. My recipe called for them and I stood in the store with two cans of beans in my hands - neither of them Great Northern Beans. Off to Google to figure out which one to use. As I looked down at my phone I saw another shelf of white beans... Great Northern Beans! BAM! THOSE were the beans. Now honestly I have no earthly idea how or if they are different than any other bean - but the recipe said to use them - and I did. We made this Sausage Bean soup - yes another soup.... we do SO many soups lately, but they are warm cozy... and this one? Crockpot. The best part was I set up the crockpot on my handy chair in the dining room to be safe away from Bernard and yet - forgot to actually turn it on. Good thing Andy was working from home and I had asked if it smelled good - he said it didn't smell like anything - oops... Phew! Thankfully he turned it on high for 4 hours and by time dinner time rolled around we had hot tasty soup.

Slow Cooker Sausage, Spinach and White Bean Soup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (12.8-ounce) package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 (15-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
4 cups chicken broth
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 cups baby spinach

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage, and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.
Place sausage, garlic, onion, carrots, celery, beans, oregano and bay leaves into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in chicken broth and 2 cups water until well combined; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours. Stir in spinach until wilted.
Serve immediately.

No comments:

Post a Comment

01 09 10