Recipe: Slow-Cooker White Beans in Parmesan Broth

As the weather gets warmer, I like to lighten up my family’s menu with fewer savory winter dishes and more recipes that show off the lighter tastes of spring. But there are still a few dreary, rainy days left, so we appreciate a nice soup somewhere in that mix. This white bean soup makes its own broth with some help from a Parmesan rind as it cooks in the slow cooker. It’s an easy dish for a busy weekday and manages to be satisfying without being too heavy or rich.

Adding a Parmesan rind to chicken stock has been “a thing” for a while. It makes the stock richer and adds flavor, but I typically don’t do it, even though I usually have a Parmesan rind on hand. At the last minute, I always opt to leave it out, because I can’t stand the way it smells while it’s cooking. I don’t know why. I like Parmesan, I like melted cheese, and I usually like the smell of stock simmering. But that rind? Smells terrible to me. The resulting broth, on the other hand, tastes delicious. Unsurprising, the solution to that problem is the slow cooker. This soup cooks in the slow cooker all day while I’m at work, so I don’t have to smell it. Hooray!

Instead of adding heavier greens like mustard or kale, I lighten up this dish by pouring each serving over a bowl of arugula, lightly wilting the greens, but maintaining their piquant flavor. The tarragon and lemon juice also give the soup a brighter taste than what we serve in the middle of winter.