"Monday" Beans and Chicken

This is a recipe that I sat on for a while. I have no idea where I found it, but I really liked the story, so I copied it into my recipe notebook. Then I promptly forgot all about it. So months later....

While I was doing last week's meal plan, I knew I was going to use the local, free range, and organic chicken thighs that I received from my Greensgrow Farm winter CSA. Since this meat was such amazing quality, I had to make sure I used it to its full advantage. Normally I would make stock from chicken bones, but the story of Monday beans and chicken randomly popped into my head. I love when great food ideas strike! Only problem: I could not seem to remember where I found the recipe. I googled it for days to no avail. I could find the story, but no recipe. Finally I remembered that I had written it down in my book. I would seriously lose my head if it...actually, I think sometimes I do.

The name of this recipe derives from an old Southern tradition. On Sunday nights, families would sit down together for a nice dinner of either or ham. Any leftovers, including bones, were thrown into a pot of beans on Monday. This pot would slowly cook on the stove through the day, while the women would spend the day doing laundry. Sometimes this dish is called Laundry Day or Wash Day Beans.

Obviously, I cannot enjoy "Monday" beans and chicken on a Meatless Monday, but I do like it's logic. I think this is a great idea for Sunday dinner. I prepared a quick and easy dinner of roasted chicken thighs on Saturday night and then let this dish cook in the Crock Pot, while I attempted to get a handle on the remaining Christmas mess. Thankfully the dinner was much more successful than my attempts at being productive.

• 1lb beans, whichever type you chose - soaked overnight
• 1lb leftover (cooked) chicken or ham with the bones if you still have them
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 Tbsp Parsley
• 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 cups water
• 1 Qt Broth
• 2 bay leaves

Place all ingredients in Crock Pot. Be sure broth and water covers meat and beans. Add more water, if needed. Cook on high for an hour, then set to low and continue to cook for 7 hours. Remove bones and bay leaves. Serve as soup or over rice.

As always, I went a little off recipe. That always seems to happen, according to what I have on hand. Better to use what you have than let it go to waste, just because you went and bought something else. I used a little over half a pound of white beans and I couldn't tell you the exact weight of the meat that was used. It wound up being the meat off two thighs and four thigh bones. Surprisingly, that gave me a decent amount of meat in my final product. This recipe really does lend itself to variety, since you can switch up your beans and types of meat. I will be definitely be trying many different variations in the future. I would recommend only using the larger bones if you are using a chicken, so you can pull them out easily.

Either because I went off recipe with my amount of beans or because this is a southern meal, but this meal is hot! It was way too spicy to even attempt to feed to Sophia. Luckily, I had some odds and ends of leftovers that she could eat for dinner. While it was super spicy, it was not too overpowering for me. So if you don't like it hot, try and cut down on the amount of pepper OR be sure to have a large glass of water and a piece of bread to go alongside your meal.