Beans and Greens

Regular readers of this blog have probably figured out that I consider beans and greens foundation foods. If we all ate them everyday, we would be a lot healthier.

And really, there's no reason not to. With all the varieties of beans in the world (I currently have 16 in my pantry) and the diversity of greens available at the markets in the spring, beans and greens is a dish that never gets old.

I recently made my old stand-by dish with rapini and black olives, and it was great.

Rapini - also known as broccoli rabe - is a cancer-fighting green that is also good for the bones. It is a little bitter, so goes well with salty flavors and with beans.

Here's what I did the other night:

First I cooked 1/2 cup of my standby large white beans. They are grown locally and cook quickly in a large pot of boiling water - they're usually done in 90 minutes even without pre-soaking. I use a large pot of water because then it's unlikely to boil dry when I'm off wandering the garden. When they're cooked I drain them and set them aside until I need them. A 14-oz can of cannellini beans can be substituted if necessary.

Then I warmed 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat, and added 3/4 cup chopped onion and a minced clove of garlic. While this was cooking, I washed a bunch of rapini and removed the largest stems, cutting the rest coarsely. I stirred this into the softened onions, sprinkled on a little salt and pepper, stirred well, and covered the pot to let it cook down for a few minutes. Then I added the white beans and 8 black olives that I had pitted and sliced. I let it cook a few more minutes until all was warmed through, and then served it in shallow bowls.

A delicious and healthy meal.