white bean vegetable soup

 Isn't it great when you have all the ingredients for what you're craving?  Score!  Celery to use up, an onion about to turn, canned tomatoes I need to start using, a tub of "baby" greens to start working on. Idea from here. 

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, chopped
• 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp thyme
• fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried
• 1 jar of canned tomatoes
• 2 jars of white beans or cooked equivalent - if from a can, rinse and drain
• 2-4 cups broth 
  
• salt & pepper
• bay leaf
• a few handfuls of chopped greens 
  
• parmesan
• parsley (optional)
  

Process

• Heat olive oil, saute onion, carrot, celery for several minutes until softened.
• Add garlic a minute, then add herbs.
• When aromatic, add tomatoes and beans.
• Add broth (less if tomatoes with juice, less if bean liquid included).  
• Cook about 20 minutes.
• Stir in the greens and cook a couple of minutes.
• Stir in parmesan.
  
• Top with parsley if desired.
  
• Add
  

farro white beans roasted and green vegetables salad

I just made a huge salad based on this, with a lot of modification, and it's very good.  And it's really huge so I'll be sharing a lot.  I'll eat it for breakfast throughout the week.  

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup farro, cooked
• 2 large carrots cut into matchsticks
• 2 large leeks in1/4" slices 
• crushed red peppers
• olive oil
• small head radicchio, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper chopped (I used roasted red pepper)
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes (I used sundried tomatoes, maybe 1/4 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• fresh parsley
• fresh thyme (or dried)
• juice of 1 lemon  
• salt and pepper
  
• 3 cup salad greens (I used erba stella)
• 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese or feta 
• nuts for serving 
  

Cook farro.  Toss carrots and leeks with 1 T oil and some red peppers, roast at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. 

Into large bowl: radicchio, pepper, tomatoes, beans.  Add roasted vegetable and farro.

Into small bowl: lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, thyme.  Stir into vegetables.  Add greens and cheese. 

I sprinkled with some pistachios, will also be good with chopped almonds or pecans.

white bean & spinach enchiladas

 I plan to make some white bean and spinach enchiladas today and I keep forgetting my plan, so writing it down and will update as necessary.  I picked up some green Hatch chili sauce from Costco and need to use it up, so this will be tasty as the enchilada sauce.  

They key for my goals is using white beans and a green (chard this time because I had half a bunch).  Various other vegetables would be great to add in to empty the refrigerator. :)

• tortillas (I'm in a hunt now for fresh tortillas and am thrilled to learn there's a tortilleria not too far)
  
• 1 can white beans, drained
  
• 1/2 pound spinach (frozen/thawed/squeezed dry or fresh/wilted), chopped
  
• 4 oz shredded pepperjack cheese
• tomatoes (a can of drained tomatoes would be good, thawed frozen, or fresh) 
  
• green onions, chopped
• poblano, optional
  
• cilantro, chopped
  
• cumin
• garlic powder, onion powder
  
• taco seasoning is also good 
• lime juice
  
• enchilada sauce
  

Mix together the beans, spinach, cheese, green onions, cilantro, spices, lime juice, cheese.  Heat the tortillas and fill. Cover with enchilada sauce.  Note: this time I was using chard and poblano, so I sauteed them with some fresh tomatoes until reduced, then added green onions, spices, and beans. 

Bake about 40 minutes at 350.  

I think I'll enjoy it with some spicy roasted sweet potatoes and maybe some curtido or sauerkraut.

energy balls

 I'm on a no refined sugar, no refined grains, no industrial seed oil kick, and it's making eating tough.  A stop at Whole Foods led me to something like these, and I'll make my own from these ideas.

Strawberry energy balls from here

• 1 cup dates without pits
• 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 3/4 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 T chia seeds

coconut flakes, as desired

Slice dates and strawberries, chop almonds.  Put everything (except coconut flakes) in food processor and blend until almonds are finer but not paste.  Put in the fridge for an hour, then shape into balls and roll in coconut.

 

Peanut butter energy balls with extra protein and fiber

• 1 cup (100g) rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (125g) smooth natural peanut butter
• 1 cup (180g) white beans, rinsed and drained
•  7-8 medjool dates, soaked (or more if deglet noor)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  
• Soak dates 5-10 minutes in warm water.  Pulse oats in food processor until like flour and remove.  Process PB, beans, and dates.  Then add in vanilla and oats, and form into balls. 
•  

Chocolate date energy balls

• 1 1/2 cups (162 g) pecans or walnuts  
• 1 c (188 g) dates, pitted (if not soft, soak in warm water 5-10 minutes)
  
• 1/4 c (24 g) cocoa powder (or 1/3 c)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

Grind nuts until a fine meal, then add the rest of the ingredients to food processor until sticky and uniform.

 

okra bean stew

 This was ok.  Idea from here.

- 1/2-1 onion, chopped

- 1 stalk celery, chopped

- 1-2 carrots, sliced 

 - 2 cloves garlic

- diced tomatoes (1 can was too much if they're saucy)

- 1 c. (ish) stock or bouillon

- 1/2-1 jar white beans

- 10 oz-ish okra

Heat up a pan and saute onion, celery, and carrots until soft. Add garlic for 30 seconds or so, until aromatic.  Add tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil.  Let simmer for 10ish minutes.  Add okra and beans and let it cook another 10-15 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper, Tony Chachere's.  Eat with rice. 

andouille, pasta, greens, white beans

 Continuing this theme with both greens and beans, I made this but scaled it down because I don't feed 20 people at a time and cheaped it down because I'm not buying special ingredients.

• 1/2# rigatoni (other ridged pasta) - cook and strain, saving 1/2 c of pasta water

Then heat a skillet and add in \

•  1 link andouille sausage, cook about 5 minutes, then add
• 1 shallot, minced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, and cook a couple minutes until aromatic, then add
• a bunch of chopped greens (I used some Russian kale and mizuna and whatever else is in the garden) and cook down until just wilted a few minutes, then add
• 1/2 jar of white beans, drained and rinsed, and
• salt, pepper, thyme

Put pasta back in warm skillet and heat it up, then add in the sausage greens beans mixture until warmed and mixed.  

Serve with:

• parmesan
• flat leaf parsley
• lemon juice and zest
• chives
  

 

white bean spinach parmesan soup

 This white beans spinach parmesan soup was a really big hit with guests.  It makes a lot but it uses up the 5# of white beans in my cupboard.

If using dried beans, set them to soak the night before (or two nights before if you're party prepping) and cook, then and save some of their cooking liquid and reduce the stock to 4 cups. 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 6-8 cloves garlic minced
• 6 cups vegetable broth/stock (or less with bean liquid)
• 15 ounces (420 g) can diced tomatoes (or a few fresh tomatoes)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Italian dried herbs (I used rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil)
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 (15 ounce) cans white beans (cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
• 4 cups chopped baby spinach (about 6 ounces)
• 3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (for serving)
  

Instructions

• In a large pot or saucepan, heat olive over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant (about 2-3 minutes), while stirring occasionally. Add in the broth, tomatoes, sugar, Italian herbs, salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes to combine all of the flavours together.
• Stir in the beans and heat up.  (Note: I let it simmer about 30 minutes for the dried herbs to come to life and everything to really come together) Then add spinach and ontinue to simmer gently until the spinach has wilted (about 2 minutes). 
• Take off heat. . Taste test, adjust salt and pepper if needed.Serve immediately, with side of parmesan and fresh parsley to add to taste.