Making good on my word and using my crockpot more this year! Just came home to a dee-lish smelling house and a pot of piping hot kielbasa bean stew! What kind of Polack would I be if I didn't include some of our favorite cured meat up in here... Ah-maze-ing!
Crock Pot Kielbasa Bean and Barley Stew
1 cup dried cannellini beans
1/2 cup pearled barley
1 onion, chopped
1 large clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
2 boxes of chicken broth (about 7-8 cups, I always use reduced sodium)
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 link (about 13oz) of turkey kielbasa (I used Hilshire Farms)
1/2 package of frozen chopped spinach
grated Parmesan- for serving =)
Directions:
Night before: Pick over the beans, throw out any funky ones. Cut Kielbasa into little half-moon slices. Add beans, barley, chopped onion, minced garlic, spices, kielbasa, and 1/2 a package of frozen spinach to crock pot. Place pot in fridge to complete the next morning.
Morning of: Add chicken stock and petite diced tomatoes to the other ingredients in the crock pot. Give it a good stir. Cook on Low for 8 hours.
Inhale deeply when you walk in the door, DINNER IS DONE! ;) Serve with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
Maggie called it "hot dog soup" hahaha, she kept making sure each bite had a piece of "hot dog" in it... she's too funny.
FYI: I added some additional chicken broth to my stew to make it less stew-like and more soup-like... don't like my stew too thick.
