It has been so hot here –Sunday was a scorching 104 degrees. Because of the toasty weather, I’ve been looking for quick, cool ways to get hits of protein.
Really, all I want to eat is fruit and lemon slushes these days. However, this white bean concoction has been a winner for the family during this hot spell. The boys have been scarfing it down plain and in quesadillas. My younger son absolutely loves it as does my husband; I like it too! My older son eats it somewhat grudgingly, though he does eat it; a good thing since he has become a bit picky of late.
The trick to this dish is pressure cooking the beans so that you can keep your kitchen cool. It takes less than 15 minutes to pressure cook white beans (if you pre-soak them), whereas it takes up to 2 hours to cook pre-soaked white beans on the regular stove top.
If you are looking for in-depth instructions and tips on how to prepare beans, Recipes from an Ecological Kitchen
by Lorna Sass is one of my favorite cookbooks and my bean cooking bible. I highly recommend it. I knew Lorna back in the day (when I lived in NYC). She took yoga classes at the studio where I later became a teacher.
Tuscan White Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked white beans
- 3 oven roasted tomatoes, see recipe below
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine beans and roasted tomatoes
- Drizzle with vinegars and oil
- Sprinkle with salt and rosemary
- Serve
Equipment
Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 3 ripe tomatoes, quartered
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 fresh sprigs of thyme
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Place tomatoes in an 7 x 11 inch baking dish
- Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and thyme sprigs
- Roast at 350°F for 30 minutes
On a technical note, you may have noticed the addition of my photo next to all of my comments on elanaspantry.com. It’s a new feature I’ve implemented on the site. You too can have a photo associated with your comments by creating an account at gravatar.com using the same email address you use to leave your comments here. What is a gravatar? According to gravatar.com, “A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites.” So go ahead, add some flair to your comments and go grab a gravatar (it’s FREE!).
Also, in other technical updates, remember to use the forum! It is the ideal place for questions, more so than the comments sections of the posts on the website. The forums have a wealth of information and are becoming more active day by day.
If you have a question, you can always check out my FAQ page –most questions are already answered there.
Thanks all and stay cool!
Kelly says
Fantastic. I make a similar dish, but never thought to roast the tomatoes; what a difference maker. I use sage instead of rosemary though, prefer the flavor complement to the beans and tomato. In the fall and winter I convert this to a hearty stew by adding sautéed onion, garlic and kale. But this year I will be roasting the tomatoes first.
Kirsten- The Foreign Domestic says
I featured your recipe today: http://www.theforeigndomestic.com/2012/03/from-your-kitchen-to-mine-recipes-51-55.html Thank you!!
Kirsten- The Foreign Domestic says
This sounds amazing! Do you mind if I feature you in my new series 100 recipes from 100 blogs? You can read more about it here: http://www.theforeigndomestic.com/2012/01/from-your-kitchen-to-mine-100-recipes.html