The Magical Fruit Makes a Perfect Meal

I don't want to make a habit of talking about what I cook and/or eat on here. There are many other websites/blogs that already do that. Instead, when I talk about a food or meal I've prepared or eaten, there is a point to be made or a lesson to share. I will also share simple, quick, healthy recipes, when appropriate, I just don't want the recipes themselves to be the focus, but you understand, right?

So I'm going to lay out my objectives for this post now. By reading this post you may learn that:

• Beans are nutritional powerhouses that are cheap, easy to prepare and make great meals.
• When you get bored with your recipe collection, all ya gotta do is a little cookbook reading or internet searching and be willing to try something new.
  
• Homemade bread, real butter and mulled wine are all delicious and perfect on a cold day.
• Easy meals can often be made with simple items you already have (or should have) in your pantry.
• Herbs make all the difference.

And now, the post:

Last night I made a new dish, White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic and Sage. That is actually the title of the recipe. Apparently it is a traditional Italian meal, according to my trusty Best Recipe Cookbook. It was simple, quick, healthy, cheap, and delicious.

I came about the recipe because I've been in a cooking rut and wanted to do something new. So I busted out some of my cookbooks and flipped through. In the Bread Baker's Apprentice (the bible of bread making and a GREAT book for anyone that likes bread or wants to learn how to make bread), I found a few recipes for Sir Cakewalk to attempt. (He is the baker in this relationship.) He agreed to try Christopsomos, a Greek celebration bread that has a hint of sweetness.

Here is the bread from above:

In the Best Recipe Cookbook I was actually looking at souffles when I passed a recipe for White Beans with Tomatoes, Garlic and Sage. It had such a long title and yet sounded intriguingly simple! I read about the history of the meal and how best to prepare it. I did a few modifications, of course, but pretty much stuck to it. The best part was, I already had almost everything I needed: a few cans of white beans, canned diced tomatoes, fresh sage (which I had to buy for $1.99), garlic (I used my elephant garlic which I will post about next), and a little S&P. I also added a bit of diced onion and celery, because I had them on hand and needed to use them up.

I highly recommend stocking your pantry with cans of beans and tomatoes. These are the two canned vegetables that I allow in my pantry. I do also have dried beans, which are much cheaper and have less sodium, but they do require a bit of forethought, of which I often have none. Canned tomatoes are useful in soooo many ways. You can make a pasta sauce, use them in soup, stew them with some veggies like ratatouille, use them in Mexican dishes, etc etc. Buy them on sale and stock up. I usually keep diced on hand. I also always have garlic and onions in my pantry. They add flavor to anything and everything and they last a very long time. I buy both in bulk.

I did not have the sage on hand, as fresh herbs are out of season. But it was readily available at the local HT. If you haven't tried cooking with fresh herbs, I highly recommend you try it. It adds a lot of flavor to a dish without adding calories, cholesterol, fat, etc.

Anywho, to make this recipe I:

1. sauteed the diced garlic, onion and celery in my new awesome stainless steel skillet with EVOO.
   
2. After it cooked a bit I added the chopped sage.
   
3. Then I added the tomatoes and beans (both well drained) and allowed it all to simmer for about 10 minutes. It became thick and stew like and made the house smell wonderful.

This pic should be horizontal, but you get the idea. ;)

We served it along with a slice of Cakewalk's bread and fresh butter. We also enjoyed a glass of mulled red wine with the meal. This we made while the bean concoction of was stewing by adding mulling spices from Williams-Sonoma to a bottle of cheap red wine and allowing it to simmer. Then we poured a glass for each of us and added a teaspoon of sugar to each. (The spice container recommends adding sugar to the wine while it cooks, but the amount seemed a bit much to me, so we waited and only added a bit to our personal liking and avoided extra sugar and calories.)



The meal was warm and filling. Beans are particularly filling and satisfying because of their fiber and protein content. The real, fresh butter added a bit of richness to the meal and the bread was slightly sweet, as was the wine. It was the perfect meal for a cold Sunday, especially after a long, hard run (Cakewalk and I are training for a distance race together!).

So, did ya learn something?