Beans and Chard
Oh, beans and greens, you are so delicious. I started this thinking about the classic Italian kale & white beans combo, but I didn’t have white beans so I used a combination of black-eyed peas and black beans. (It was a “I am poor, so let’s go through the pantry instead of going shopping” kind of week.) That made me think of southern cooking, which made me think of the faux bacon I had sitting around in my fridge. It also made me think of tomatoes, and I threw a zucchini in there just for funsies. First I cooked my beans in my pressure cooker, then I got everything going. I started by sauteing some garlic in olive oil, because that is how good things start. I added some cumin and crushed red pepper (probably about a teaspoon of cumin and a quarter teaspoon of red pepper), because I like those things. I also put in some chopped up veggie bacon so it would have a chance to get a little crisp. Then I threw in the zucchini, because I like my zucchini to cook for a long time and get really squishy. While my zucchini cooked, I chopped up the chard. I added the chard stems in first, because they take longer. I added some Braggs around this point, both for flavor and to get some liquid in the pan. Once the zucchini and chard stems were nice and squishy, I added the beans and the rest of the chard, and cooked everything until the chard got wilty. Then I threw in the tomatoes, and cooked them just until they were slightly squishy and starting to loose liquid. I turned off the heat and added some lemon juice, because I heard this Top Chef judge voice in my head going “This needs more acid.” The result was so good! This was super delicious and I loved it. Yay for random pantry cooking.
Local: Zucchini, chard, tomato
November 5th, 2009 12:43
Random pantry cooking is the best! This looks like a great combination of ingredients and flavors. It is the kind of the thing we eat around here a lot, because it is quick AND delicious AND nutritious.
November 5th, 2009 19:04
i love the way you think, Cyn! you’ve always got the most delicious ideas & come up with the yummiest of combinations! huzzah for using black-eyed peas, too – i just cooked up a few tonight for my lunch tomorrow & tossed them in with some quinoa, squash, greens, nooch, and pumpkin seeds. beans ‘n green are one scrumptious combination – i love that you have a top chef judge voice in your head, too! i think i’m gonna have to rock something similar to what you did here ’cause i love me some beans, greens, zuc, tomatoes and chard. mmmmmmmmm!