Slow Cooker Roasted Veggie and Bean Soup

The roasted vegetables give this soup a deep, smoky flavor. Try making a batch of roasted vegetables the night before for dinner and then toss the left-overs into the slow cooker the next morning!
Ingredients
1/2 lb of dried beans* – about 1 1/4 cups
water to cover
4-5 cups, or about half, of Roasted Winter Veggies recipe (see video)
6-7 cups of water or vegetable stock
a piece of kombu (optional)**
salt or wheat-free tamari to taste
pepper (optional)
garnish with fresh parsley (optional)
Preparation
Rinse the beans and remove any debris. Place in a bowl and cover with water and let them soak for 8-10 hours.
Make half of the Roasted Winter Veggie recipe. This will take about an hour.
After soaking, drain and rinse the beans and place in stock pot. Cover with 5-6 cups of the water or vegetable stock and bring to a boil, Lower the temperature, cover, and simmer for 10-15 (or up to 60) minutes. If you are roasting the vegetables at this time, simmer the beans during the roasting time.
Place the beans and liquid, roasted vegetables, and kombu in a 4 quart or larger slow cooker. Turn it on Low and let it cook for 8-10 hours.
When the beans are soft, the soup is done. Add the tamari or salt to taste.
Serve with whole grain bread and a salad.
Additional Tips
* Use beans that take about the same amount of time to cook on the stove top. This video shows navy,kidney, Swedish brown, pinto and black beans. You could also use chickpeas (garbanzo beans), scarlet runner, great northern, cannellini, canary, cranberry or marrow beans.
**Kombu is a type of seaweed that helps make the beans more digestible.