Ok – it doesn’t *have* to be Anasazi beans, any bean will do.  But, my Mom loves these beans and she gave me some while my family was visiting over the holidays.   Anasazi beans are kissing cousins to pinto beans and the recipe will work in a straight substitution.  The Anasazi beans are a little sweeter and cook a little faster than pintos. If you use a different size/variety/density bean (or even peas!) just follow the cooking directions on the package.

Here’s mine: 

Sort and wash 1lb. of Anasazi beans, removing any weird, stray bits or rocks (if you skip this step, don’t come whining to me when you get the debris!).

Some folks soak, some folks don’t.  I go either way, depending on time and energy before serving.  These, I soaked in cold water for a couple of hours.  Drain off the soaking water, then into the slow cooker they go.  Add cold, filtered water to cover and nothing else!  I mean it, NOTHING ELSE.  Here’s my very best bean-cooking tip:  Cook your beans in water only!  Seriously, if you go adding salt (this includes salty ham bone or stock) it will inhibit the tenderization of the beans.  Save your fat, salt, veggies and especially tomato products til the beans are as tender as you wish.  Then, we party!

Turn the slow cooker on high and go to work, take a nap or wash the dog.  (If you prefer to cook beans overnight, and I often do, skip the soak.  Don’t skip the sort!   Throw the rinsed beans in the slow cooker, cover with water {use about 2 times the volume of beans}, turn on low and go to bed.  In the morning, you will have tender beans just begging for some salt, veggies and whatever general loveliness you can dream up.)   OK, back to tonight’s meal:  check the beans for desired tenderness in 4-6 hours.  In my life, this works out to my lunch break.  They were perfectly tender and I added:

1/2 chopped onion

1 chopped red pepper

1 chopped Anaheim pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 stick celery, chopped

and, 1 head of broccoli*, chopped (only because I needed to use it up – you can use virtually ANY veggie here – clean out your fridge, use what makes you happy!)

Here’s what we have: 

To this, I added a ham bone (also from Christmas) and turned the setting to low for the afternoon.  If you are not adding a salt factor like a ham bone, you will need to add salt here.  Start with a teaspoon and go from there, adjusting to your preference.  When we walk in the door from a long day, it will be lovely, hearty and full of fiber.  The bits of ham will fall off the bone and *BONUS* morph this soup into something wonderful.   The best part of this meal is the add-ins.  I dice fresh onion and avocado as toppers.  My husband will spoon in a bit of sour cream – oh, if only I had some flat-leaf parsley!  Either way, you won’t go wrong.  This bean and veggie soup will do just fine on its own or, if you are wanting to show off a little – bake a pan of corn bread and dine like Royalty!

*Rookie mistake:  if I had been thinking when I chopped my veggies, I would have saved the broccoli, chopped it small and added it right before serving.  The heat from the simmering soup would turn it bright green, slightly crunchy and perfect.   Next time…

P.S.  So, I didn’t have parsley, but I DID have spinach! 

When things cook all day, I think it’s really important to have something fresh to add in right at the end.  So, here’s how I served the Anasazi bean and veggie soup:   

We had minced spinach (organic, please), green onions (also, organic), diced avocado and sour cream to customize to individual preference.  It was really good!