Slow Cooker White Bean, Kale and Rosemary

Ingredients

• 3 cans Cannellini beans, canned no-salt-added, drained — or 1.5 cups dried, unsoaked
• 2 Yellow onion, diced
• 3 Carrots, diced
• 3 stalks Celery, diced
• 6 cloves Garlic, smashed
• 3 sprigs Fresh rosemary
• 2 Bay leaves
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• 6 cups Low-sodium vegetable broth
• 6 cups Lacinato kale, stemmed and torn
• 3 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ tsp Kosher salt
• 1 Lemon
• ⅜ cup Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)
• 6 slices Sourdough bread, toasted

Method

1. Put the beans, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, rosemary, bay, tomato paste and broth in the slow cooker. Do not salt yet if you are using dried beans — salt early keeps their skins tough.
2. Cook on low 7-8 hours, or high 4. Dried unsoaked beans want the full low setting; canned beans are happy with 4 hours on low.
3. In the last 20 minutes, add the kale, the salt and the olive oil and put the lid back on.
4. Fish out the rosemary stems and bay. Mash a cup of the beans against the side to thicken the broth.
5. Finish every bowl with lemon juice, a thread of olive oil, parmesan if you want it, and a slab of toast pushed down into it.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

Olive oil and lemon at the table, not in the pot. Eight hours flattens both; thirty seconds before eating restores them.

🧒 For the kids

Blend two ladles smooth and stir them back for a creamier texture, and serve with a lot of toast.

🥡 Leftovers

Keeps 5 days and freezes 3 months. It thickens into something closer to a stew.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.