Entree/ Legumes

Creamy White Beans with Herb Oil

Do I like beans or what? Another bean recipe.

There is nothing my comforting than a  bowl of beans no matter how they are prepared. Some cold winter night or even a rainy day this would be a super easy recipe to prepare for your family.

I happened upon this recipe on my New York Times Cooking app or New York Times cooking section; I don’t really remember other than it came from NYT — thanks anyway for the recipe.

This recipe could probably be made for less than $10 even if you had to buy the herbs to make the herb oil. Beans when combined with grains form a complete protein; see my White Beans and Sausage recipe – that dish would be a complete protein meal. Beans have no cholesterol, no saturated fat and lower in calories than most animal proteins.

I don’t remember eating beans as a kid but as I got older, I couldn’t resist my mother’s white beans and ham and her “cracklin” cornbread. Sure wish I could find some cracklins around here — maybe I should start looking for them. Beans are probably the most underrated foods we think about; they are even great added to a salad (see BLAST FROM PAST).

There are certain dishes that bring back memories of family meals with my parents and any white bean dish does that for me; well, also, fish, homemade tamales, bar-b-q and certain desserts do the same.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: This Italian Chopped Salad is one I made years ago that Giada (Food Network) did on one of her shows.  It has white beans as an ingredient and is a delicious salad for guest or family.

Ingredients for herbed oil.

Put all the oil ingredients into food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Strain using a sieve.

This was cubes of pork belly from my Trader Joe’s pork belly package. The package contains about a 4×5″ piece of cooked pork belly. I usually keep one or two in my freezer to use for garnishes or appetizers.

Mix all the bean ingredients and you are going to mash about 1/2 cup of them and add back into the pot.

Ladle beans into your serving bowl.

Garnish beans with some drizzles of the herb oil, a piece of the pork belly and I added some blister tomatoes and microgreens for color.

 

Creamy White Beans With Herb Oil and Pork Belly

Ingredients

  • Herb Oil:
  • 1/2 c. roughly chopped chives
  • 1/2 c. roughly chopped cilantro leaves and stems
  • 1/2 c. packed basil leaves
  • 1/2 c. olive oil
  • squeeze of lemon
  • salt to taste
  • Beans:
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
  • 2 - 15 oz. cans white beans rinsed and drained
  • Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
  • 1/2 c. chicken stock or water
  • flaky sea salt for serving.

Instructions

  1. To make the oil; in a food processor, combine the chives, cilantro and basil and pulse until finely chopped. Add in the olive oil and pulse again until mixture has emulsified. Transfer to qa small bowl, stir in lemon juice and salt to taste. Set aside.
  2. For the beans: In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Add in the garlic and cook until translucent, about 1-2 minutes. Add in the drained beans and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the flavors have melded which take about 2-3 minutes. Use a potato masher and mash about 1/2 cup of the beans and stir until they are incorporated with the remaining beans in the pot. Most of the beans should remain whole.
  3. Add the stock or water and bring two a simmer. Cook until sauce becomes creamy and reduced by about half; this should take 2-3 minutes.
  4. To serve, add the beans to a bowl and swirl with the herb oil on top. Season with the flaky sea salt if you have some.
  5. For the addition of the pork belly -- If you have some good pork belly or even a piece of pork steak, cut into small squares and saute in pan until tender. Top beans with your sauteed pork.

Recipe Notes

Note: I blistered sone cherry tomatoes in a 400° oven for 5-8 minutes and used these as a garnish on the bean dish.

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