Every once in a while I get to reading books on food for health. I am looking for that magic dietary change that will cure what ails me. And I don’t want to give up too much. I enjoy food. I enjoy baking. I enjoy my glass of wine and a cocktail or two at times. I enjoy bread and cakes and pies and cookies. Like I said I’m looking for magic! I got my hands on an anti-inflammatory diet crock-pot cookbook. There are some really good sounding recipes in here. I’ve already made the Spanish Rice and am now trying a soup recipe. I am calling it a stew so Hubby will like it, and adding some meat.

This is my variation of the White Bean & French Onion Soup from The Anti-Inflammatory Diet Slow Cooker Cookbook by Madeline Given (the italicized ingredients are my own addition or changes).

• 4 onions, thinly sliced (I used 4 instead of 2 large onions because my onions were on the smallish side.)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2 (14 ounce) cans of white beans, rinsed and drained well
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth (Hooray for me, I made my own with carrot peels, onion peels, celery and a bay leaf. Just boil that up all together for about an hour and then strain.)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 cup diced cooked ham
• 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped

Put the sliced onions, olive oil and salt in the crock-pot and cook on High for 3 hours.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients but not the spinach and cook on Low for another 3 hours. Add the spinach and cook an additional hour.

This makes the kitchen smell good as it cooks. For “stew-like” bowls ladle the soup with a slotted spoon into your bowls. I served this with a toasted baguette. Hubby liked it.