We’ve been making this soup with Good Mother Stallard beans, which may be taking away from how good the beans are on their own. But it’s a good soup.

Put one bag (one pound? 22 ounces? I forget how much is in a bag, but it’s at least a pound) of beans in water to soak overnight. In the morning, put them in the crock pot with a split onion, some garlic, a few bay leaves, and boiling water (to get the pot up to temperature more quickly). They should be ready in about three hours.

When the beans are creamy, remove the onion and bay leaves, and any of the garlic that hasn’t turned to paste. In a large pot or dutch oven, soften an onion, a couple of bell peppers, celery, and carrots. Probably at least a cup of each, although maybe less carrots than everything else. Don’t skimp on the bell peppers or celery. Add less than one chopped Kiolbassa smoked sausage, some garlic granules, and red pepper flakes. Add in the beans and their broth, and some Better Than Bouillon chicken stock base, probably around a tablespoon, maybe less. Toss in a whole bunch of chopped greens — collards, kale, turnip greens, beet greens, whatever. I just had half a pound each of frozen collards and turnip greens in the freezer, so I used those. If you’ve got fresh savory, scrape the leaves from a good hunk of that in as well. If you don’t have savory, thyme is probably good.

If you salted the beans while they were cooking and you put in too much chicken base, you might have to add some diced potato to bring the saltiness down. Simmer everything for 15-30 minutes. A dash of Cholula with a serving is delicious.