Sunday, July 26, 2009

Beanerific!

I really like beans and I'm always on the lookout for good ways to prepare them. I do use them in a few salads, but it seems that cooked beans are more of a dish for cooler weather. So when I came across Tuscan Beans in Summery Tomato Ragu I was excited to try it.
The dish is really easy to prepare--you just have to remember to soak your beans ahead of time--and uses ingredients that are almost always on hand. I will admit it is not a "cool kitchen" dish, since it does go in the oven at some point. I used Great Northern beans--but I would love to try cannelini beans sometime
The mellowness of the beans offsets the tangy tomatoes well, and the cheese that is sprinkled on top adds a wonderful undertone. I served this as a side for some grilled steak and garlic-sauteed wild arugula, but I think the beans with a big salad or a pile of sauteed greens would be more than enough to make a nice meat-free dinner.

4 comments:

Miss Healthypants said...

Hey, why does reading your blog almost always make me hungry?? *smiles*

MaryRuth said...

ummmm...maybe cuz you read it at dinner time?!
;-)

Jeanna said...

Are you this healthy when your in Milw? The Shee boygan Bratfest is coming up, btw.

MaryRuth said...

When I go to WI it is about 50-50 on the healthy stuff--of course I have custard and fish fry, but my family is pretty on top of converting to healthy eating.
Many years ago when I was cooking in a foo-foo hotel in Hawaii, I came back to WI for a family party and planned the menu and cooked everything. A lot of it was similar to what we would serve in the hotel--Pacific Rim style. Stuff on sticks, Asian slaw, mango salad, etc. The more carnivorous were a little freaked out there were no brats/burgers and I heard one person say "No Jell-o???" Now, my family loves me to visit and make them "fancy" stuff.
I went to Bratfest once when I was maybe 10-11...I remember seeing people laying on the curb because they were so drunk. I was a little weirded out.