Sort the beans and discard bad beans or debris, rinse and place in a large bowl that has a lid, cover with water by about 2 inches, cover and place in the fridge overnight.

Next day, drain the beans, quick rinse and place in the slow cooker. And the chicken stock and set the slow cooker to High setting.

Fry the bacon in a pan until just crispy, remove from the pan, briefly drain on a paper towel, then add to the slow cooker. You can reserve some of the bacon to garnish the top of each bowl if desired. This photo shows I am using 1/2 package of store bought Thai brand bacon, and 4 slices of thick cut German smoked bacon.

Pour the bacon fat into a jar for use in later, like frying eggs, potatoes, etc but do not wipe out the pan, now add the veggies to the pan and cook those for 4-5 minutes or until starting to soften, then stir in the tomato paste, cook for another minute or two, then add this mixture to the slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and stir to mix everything together. Cover.

Continue to cook on High for a total of 3 hours, then switch to Low setting for 3 hours. Perfect consistency.

Remove the bay leaves, stir in some dried parsley and serve. Top with the reserved bacon for garnish if desired and sprinkle some dried parsley on as well.