Slow-Cooker Pork with White Beans and Kale

Well, we’re officially in the busiest month of the year—or at least it’s the busiest for me and every other human I know. Among all the fun social commitments, errand-running, holiday shopping, cookie baking, and cramming in of end-of-year work that just has to get done, there’s little time for everyday cooking. And that’s where the good ol’ slow cooker comes in handy. To be completely honest, I’m not the biggest fan of the slow cooker … until life gets insane enough for me to admit that it really is pretty darn useful. Let it do the work for you, making this comforting, delicious, nutritious (check out that fiber!) meal that will feed you and your family for multiple nights. There’s very little prep involved, and then the slow cooker just does its thing while you go about doing your thing. The pork ends up meltingly tender, and the beans are the creamiest ever. If only everything in December could be this easy and this satisfying!

Yield: 12 (serving size: about 4 oz. pork and 2/3 cup bean mixture)Author: Ann Taylor PittmanPrint Recipe

Slow-Cooker Pork with White Beans and Kale

prep time: 14 minscook time: 7 hour and 10 minstotal time: 7 hours and 24 mins

When your week is insanely busy, you need a meal that will cook itself while you're at work—and then feed you and your family another couple nights of delicious leftovers. This is that meal. It's dead simple, delivering supreme comfort with very little effort. The beans, which go into the slow cooker dry (because who can remember to soak them ahead?) absorb all the delicious porky flavors and cook up to an incredibly creamy texture. Enjoy leftovers as they are, or mash the beans with a little hot sauce and use as a tostada topping or taco filling with the pork; just add salsa to perk up the flavor.

ingredients:

• 2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 (4 1/2-lb.) bone-in pork shoulder roast (Boston Butt), trimmed (for me, the trimmed weight was 4 lb.)
  
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 lb. dried Great Northern beans (no need to presoak)
• 4 cups unsalted chicken stock (1 [32-oz.) carton)
  
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 2 oregano sprigs (or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 dried ancho chile, stemmed (optional)
• 1 large bunch curly kale (about 12 oz.), stemmed and torn into pieces

instructions:

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander. Rub over all sides of pork. Add pork to pan; cook until well browned, turning occasionally to brown all sides, about 12 minutes. Place pork in a slow cooker. Add water to hot skillet, scraping bottom of pan to release browned bits. Pour water over pork.
2. Arrange beans around pork in slow cooker. Pour chicken stock over beans. Add garlic, oregano, bay leaves, and chile, if using, to slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW until pork and beans are very tender, about 7 to 8 hours. Remove and discard bay leaves and oregano sprigs. (You can chop or mash the ancho and stir into the beans if desired.)
3. Increase slow cooker heat to HIGH. Pile kale on top. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until kale wilts. (I like my kale a little chewy and still bright green; if you like it more tender, you'll need to cook it longer.) Sprinkle kale with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; gently stir to combine with beans. 

NOTES:

Calories 435; Fat 19g (sat 7g); Protein 38g; Carb 27g; Fiber 9g; Sugars 2g (added sugars 0g); Sodium 579mg

Created using The Recipes Generator

This recipe is so simple that there’s not much to show, step- or technique-wise. I do recommend buying a bone-in pork roast, as the bone always seems to add more flavor and helps to keep the pork moist. And please, please, please brown it before it goes into the slow cooker. That step builds deep, savory flavor and is more than worth the few minutes it takes. Remember, brown = flavor. I don’t add any oil to the skillet when I brown the roast (you really don’t need it).

As for the beans, they go into the slow cooker dry. They cook to creamy perfection over the long, slow simmer, picking up all the yummy pork flavor, as well as that of the broth and the other flavorings:

Well, I forgot to show the garlic, but garlic goes in with the beans, along with bay leaves, oregano sprigs (or dried oregano), and an optional ancho chile. I love what the ancho adds—no real heat but instead richness and depth, with a hint of bitterness. I fished it out before dishing this up for the kids. But I sort of mashed it into my serving. Delicious!

That’s it! That’s all it takes to make a warm, comforting, hearty, big-batch meal that will pull you through the busiest December day.