Tag: white beans

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White Beans with Leeks and Thyme ‘Slow Cooker Friday’ Stew or Soup

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That ended up being quite a long title, but the ingredient list is all the shorter to make up for it. And yes, I realize it’s not Friday 😉

Shorter days and all the holiday activity can leave you tired and sleepy. It’s darker earlier and after the hustle and bustle of the holidays most don’t feel like doing as much as on a sunny summer evening. Add to that the weeks of overindulgence that usually lead up to the end of the year, the lethargic feeling that comes with it and you know you really don’t want to cook at all. But luckily to your aid comes the slow cooker! After a long week of work or entertaining, you deserve to come home to a meal that’s good, good for you and won’t break the bank! Prepare in the morning and decide if you want soup or stew on your way home! (Sorry there are no picture of the soup, we were too hungry and it was dark out, but let me tell you, it was yummy)

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I used a 2 qt size round cooker for this recipe. Makes 4 servings if you add some Chicken Sausage Patties on the side.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb dry white beans ( I have used both baby lima and regular dried lima beans) rinsed
  • 1 cup leeks, white and light green parts only, (from about 2 stalks) cut into rounds and cleaned well*
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cube Rapunzel (no salt added) bouillon
  • 3 sprigs thyme
  • 4 cups water
  • (optional) pancetta or speck as a topping or chicken sausage patties as a side

* Leeks can trap a lot of dirt, so submerge the cut rounds in cold water and move pieces around with your hands, changing the water a couple of times if necessary until no more ‘sand’ collects on the bottom

imageHere served with a nice slice of 10 grain sourdough for a vegetarian dinner (resuscitate your sourdough starter in the back of the fridge, you will need it for this yummy bread, recipe coming up soon)

Directions

  1. Rinse beans well, then layer into the slow cooker and add 3 cups of water.
  2. Add the cleaned leeks, salt and thyme sprigs.
  3. Turn your slow cooker to high and wait 5-6 hours until beans are fully cooked, adding water if necessary. (On low the recipe will take longer, about 8-9 hours)
  4. When you get home, either serve as is, or add another cup of water and using a hand held blender, puree the beans and leeks until smooth, adding more water if you like a thinner soup.
  5. Cook some chicken sausage patties until nicely browned and serve along the stew or cook a slice or two of Pancetta or Speck, crumble and top your soup with it

imageCopyright © 2012 Simple Healthy Homemade. All rights reserved

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Baby Lima salad with lemon and herbs

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We haven’t had beans in a while, I was told by my other half. And he’s right, they sure have slipped from the menu into oblivion as the cold weather faded from our memory. Usually I like to make all kinds of dips and things but somehow just did not get to it yet. So to remedy that and since a hot dish really wasn’t gong to cut it, I decided ona  white bean salad with simple and fresh flavors: lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper and some parsley. Using baby butter beans, or lima beans  for a buttery texture you have to be careful cooking them, since they tend to get butter soft when you cook them. Make sure you don’t over do it, which is easy to do, or you’ll end up with mush=not ideal for salad. You might have to go for dip at that point…

imageCan be served warm, room temp or from the fridge: tested and tastes good either way!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb dried baby lima beans, soaked in water overnight (half a pack)
  • 1 cup parsley, chopped
  • 1 lemon, juice only
  • 3-4 tbsp olive oil
  •  1 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste (if using canned beans, reduce the salt)

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Directions

  1. Drain beans and add fresh water, then bring to a boil and cook until beans are tender (If you have a pressure cooker, it makes this take so much less time!)
  2. Drain and cool the cooked beans
  3. In the meantime make the dressing: juice the lemon and stir in the olive oil, salt and pepper. Note that if you use canned beans or added salt to the cooking water, you may want to reduce the amount, you can always add more…
  4. Chop the parsley fine and add to the dressing, toss with the beans.
  5. Grind some fresh pepper over top and serve garnished with lemon slices.

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© 2012 SimpleHealthyHomemade