White Bean Soup with Bacon from:“Not your mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook” by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried navy or Great Northern beans, rinsed, picked over
• 2 to 3 strips bacon, fried and dried on towels, crumbled; or 1 sausage, or ham bone.
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• (1 rib celery, minced, optional)
• 1 small carrot, minced
• 1 bouquet garni: oregano sprig, 3 sprigs flat leaf parsley, 1 fresh sage leaf, and 1 bay leaf, tied together
• 6 cups chicken broth or water
• salt or soy sauce to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• (1/2 cup heavy cream, optional)

To Make:

• Soak the beans overnight in water to cover; pour off prior to cooking.
• Combine the beans, meat, onion, celery, carrot, bouquet garni and broth in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours.
• Remove the bouquet garni and bone, if using, and discard. Season with salt and add the pepper and cream. Continue to cook on low for 15 minutes longer. One third of soup can be pureed if desired.