This is so much more than the sum of its parts! Truly a delicious, bone-sticking soup I did not expect to be so delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and used Rancho Gordo beans. A must make again meal. It will be added to the rotation.

If you go look at the FDA’a bad bug booklet, they only talk about kidney beans and slow cookers. Check page 254 here: https://www.fda.gov/media/83271/download

It is not lectins that they warn of but Phytohaemagglutinin which is also called kidney bean lectin and the main thing talked about with slow cookers and beans. I did google and see that this booklet was misquoted as referring to lectins and all beans, but on reading it you can see that’s not the case.

Delicious and beautiful soup – also made us sick! In a reply to another comment, Kathy Hester says that only kidney beans need to be boiled to break down the toxin lectin. Based on that incorrect advice, I made this recipe just as published. My wife and I spent the following 24 hours running for the toilet. As it turns out, lectin is in many types of beans, including yellow eyed beans (most red beans, most white beans, all broad beans, and more). The FDA advises against using a slow cooker for beans *at all*. Other experts say to boil the beans for ten minutes before slow cooking. I take responsibility for accepting Ms. Hester’s advice without double checking it, but I strongly suggest that she not hand out advice about food safety without doing some research, and that she adjust her slow cooker recipes that include beans.

Always drain the soaking water off and then proceed with the recipe.. my grandmother always said the gas’s was in this water..

No- black eyed peas are not a substitute for these delicious beans.. great northern would work though..

In this recipe yes because it’s a smaller amount. Also different brands/models have a different min. fill amount between 1/2 – 3/4 full. If you have under that it will cook hotter and can burn.

Here’s a link to my How to Pick Out a Slow Cooker article: https://healthyslowcooking.com/tips-on-picking-out-a-slow-cooker-thats-right-for-you/

You can, but the cooking time could be a bit longer especially if your chickpeas are a little older. You could certainly serve it with all the things you listed.

Can you use chickpeas instead of these? Also, can we accompany this soup with a flatbread (made from rotimatic), curry, and rice?

Thanks.

Kidney beans from a can are fine. In fact cooked anyway that brings them to a full boil for 10 minutes gets rid of the toxin. Since most slow cookers don’t cook that high, it’s recommended that you don’t cook dried kidney beans in the slow cooker unless you boil them on the stove for 10 minutes first.