Beans and Greens the Wonderful Dish!

Ok, ok, I'll admit it: I ate a rueban last night.  Ruebans is just about my only red meat temptation when I'm out to eat, but I would never think to make one myself.  Something about the sour kraut and thousand island dressing just makes it such a delicious sandwich to me.  Although this is definitely not in my ideal eating plan, I did not let my slip up ruin the week, or give me an excuse to eat other bad things last night.  But let's forget about the food past and concentrate on the yummy, nutritious food present. 


There are many different Beans and Greens recipes I've come across, but my favorite would have to be a recipe I fell upon after accidentally buying escarole, thinking it was butter lettuce this summer.  I had no idea how to use escarole, so I searched for a recipe on Dr. Fuhrman's website.  I came across 'Scarole and Beans (not sure if you can see this if you aren't a E2L member so I will copy the original recipe at the end of this post).  This recipe was great on it's own, but, as always, I had to add my own spins to it.  Read my notes at the bottom of ANK Beans and Greens recipe for explanation of the recipe.


ANK Beans and Greens

Ingredients:

8-10 c fresh chopped escarole (note 1)

1/4 c raw cashew butter (note 2)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

water for sauteing

8-10 white mushrooms, quartered

2 c vegetable broth

1 can cooked black eyed peas, drained and rinsed (note 3)

1 tsp red pepper flakes (+/- for heat)

cooked wild rice

chopped green onions

Directions: Begin cooking rice or other grains you will be serving before starting other prep-work.  Blanch escarole for 1 minute in a large pot of boiling water.  Drain and press out excess liquid.

Heat a small amount of water in a large skillet and saute onion and garlic until tender.  Add mushrooms and saute while continually stirring slowly for five minutes.  Add vegetable broth and whisk in cashew butter.  Add blanched escarole and cook for one minute.  Add beans and red pepper flakes.  Simmer covered for five minutes.

Serve hot over cooked wild rice or whole grain of choice, and topped with chopped green onions.

Amy's Notes:  

Note 1- I usually make this with escarole, but in times when I can't find escarole, or find it for a good price (which seems like constantly, lately), I have used baby bok choy, bok choy, and butter lettuce.  I'd be interested in trying other types of greens, especially kale and spinach.  The blanching time for different lettuces may be more or less than one minute, so experiment as you get used to this recipe.  My rule of thumb is: the harder/tougher the lettuce, the longer blanching time required.  

Note 2- I use more nut butters than the Dr. F recipe because my recipe is creamier and meant for having over rice.  You can use whatever nut butter you have available, but preferably natural and unsalted.  I have used my homemade peanut butter (how to directions from a blog I read) for the recipe and because it is unsalted, the peanut "essence" doesn't overwhelm the dish.

Note 3- I used black eyed peas because that's what I had available the first time I made the recipe, and it tasted so good, I just stuck with it.  I'm sure that most white-types of beans will work for the recipe including cannellini, great northern, white beans, etc.

'Scarole and Beans- Dr. Fuhrman
Ingredients:

8-10 c fresh chopped escarole

1TBSP raw cashew butter

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c vegetable broth

1 can cooked cannellini beans, undrained

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, if desired

Directions:

Blanch escarole for 1 minute in a large pot of boiling water.  Drain and press out excess liquid.

Heat 1/8 cup water in a large skillet and water saute onion and garlic until tender.  Whist in cashew butter.  Add escarole, cook for 1 minute.  Add broth, beans, and red pepper flakes.  Simmer covered for 5 minutes.  Allow to cool and serve hot.

All in all, both recipes are very good, but I find that my recipe stretches a little farther when I can serve it with wild rice and adds in mushrooms that are protective against many types of cancer and diseases (for more information on this I would suggest looking into Dr. Fuhrman's newest book, "Super Immunity").


What is your favorite green leaf vegetable to have blanched or in cooked dishes?