Country-Style Pork and White Beans — What You Make Because You Want It

April. The garden is going in. Kai and I planted the Cherokee Purple tomato seedlings Saturday — the same heritage stock, fourth year of growing from the seeds we saved and returned to the library and received back. The continuity of those seeds is something I have been thinking about a lot: the fact that the tomatoes we plant this year are descended from tomatoes planted last year which were descended from tomatoes planted by someone before us, connecting to a lineage of cultivation that the seed library is documenting and preserving. Kai planted each seedling with the focused precision of a five-year-old who has done this enough times to take it seriously. He did not rush. He firmed the soil around each plant with both hands. He said: "There you go" to each one when he was done, which is what I say, which is what Danny says. You say there you go. The plant hears it somehow. That is the theory.

Luna planted beans. Pole beans, from the heritage seed stock, the same beans she has been eating since before she had teeth to eat them with. She pressed each seed into the soil with her index finger, one at a time, with the methodical precision of a person performing a ceremony she has memorized but is still learning. She covered each one carefully. Then she stood back and looked at the bed and said: "Now we wait." She is two years and two months old and she said "now we wait" at a garden bed. Hannah was standing behind me and I heard her make a sound that was not quite a word. Sometimes your children say something that is so exactly right that the only response is a sound that is not quite a word.

Made kanuchi this week. Not for any occasion. Just because I wanted to make it. That is what right feels like — when you make something not to practice or to prove but because you want it, because it sounds good, because it belongs to who you are now and you want it in the pot and in the house and in the air. That is what correct leads to eventually: making it because you want it. The goal all along.

Kanuchi was already in the pot earlier this week, but there is something about a spring planting day — dirt under fingernails, seedlings firmed in, beans pressed into rows — that calls for another pot of something slow and grounding by evening. Luna pressed those heritage beans into the soil one at a time like she was performing a ceremony she already knew by heart, and I wanted to honor that energy at the table. Country-style pork and white beans in the slow cooker is the kind of dish that asks almost nothing of you and gives back the whole house: the smell, the warmth, the feeling that something right is happening on the stove while you do other things. You start it in the morning. By dinner it is ready, and you did not have to earn it. That is the point.

Country-Style Pork and White Beans {Slow Cooker}

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 8 hrs (low) or 5 hrs (high) | Total Time: 8 hrs 15 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs bone-in country-style pork ribs
• 1 lb dried Great Northern or navy beans, soaked overnight and drained
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Layer the base. Place the drained soaked beans in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Scatter the diced onion and minced garlic over the beans.
2. Season the pork. Pat the country-style ribs dry with paper towels. Rub them all over with the smoked paprika, thyme, rosemary, pepper, and salt.
3. Add everything to the pot. Nestle the seasoned pork ribs on top of the beans and onion. Pour the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and water over everything. Tuck in the bay leaves.
4. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 7–8 hours or on HIGH for 4–5 hours, until the beans are completely tender and the pork is falling off the bone.
5. Shred and stir. Remove the pork to a cutting board. Discard the bones and bay leaves. Pull the meat into large chunks using two forks and return it to the slow cooker. Stir gently to incorporate. Taste and adjust salt.
6. Rest briefly and serve. Let the pot sit uncovered for 10 minutes — the broth will thicken slightly. Serve in deep bowls with cornbread or crusty bread alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 410 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 10g | Sodium: 480mg