Greek Style Beans with Onions & Spinach


I found this recipe by The Doctor’s Kitchen, aka Dr Rupy Aujla, on the BBC website. I was incredibly skeptical about these flavors combined, but I have to say I am totally won over.

It’s super satisfying – a very solid healthy main dish, and very quick and easy to make. I made some tweaks, since he uses some ingredients less easily available in the US.

It uses mostly pantry ingredients, but tastes super fresh and delish. Kumy and I had it with naan and we totally devoured it! It’s also great with toast.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced (red’s fine, too)
½ tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 can chopped tomatoes, with juice (14.5 oz)
2 tsp honey
1 small dry red chilli, deseeded and broken into chunks
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, 14.5 oz (Can use any white beans.)
8 oz baby spinach (really big handful)
Feta cheese, crumbled for garnish

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400.

Heat the oil in a large oven-proof frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes until softened.

Add the tomatoes, honey, chilli, cinnamon, paprika and oregano. Simmer for a few minutes. Stir in the beans and the greens. Toss the spinach to help it wilt.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes and serve sprinkled with Feta.

Warm Cabbage with Apples and Bacon

cabbage-isara-somboon

image by Isara Somboon at Unsplash.

Love this recipe that came from a local grocery store around St. Patrick’s Day!

So much so that I’ve made this beautiful, colorful dish twice in the last three weeks.  It’s delicious but also such great comfort food – which is something we all need right now.  I serve it with a cheddary sausage and they’re really good together.

The lovely thing is that cabbage is so hardy – you can use half the cabbage now, and then make this again in a few weeks.

Ingredients:

6 slices bacon, chopped into 1/2″ pieces (if using turkey bacon, add 2 Tbsp Olive Oil)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
8 cups chopped green cabbage (1″ pieces are fine) about 1/2 medium cabbage
1 apple, cored and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup dark beer (or the equivalent in cider, plus a Tbsp of cider vinegar)
1/4 cup apple cider (or apple juice)
2 tsp brown sugar or honey
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 Tbsp butter (optional)

In a large cast-iron skillet, cook bacon sprinkled with black pepper until crispy. Remove from pan, but leave drippings. Add onions and cook for a couple of minutes, then add cabbage and apples. Cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl, mix beer, cider, brown sugar, caraway seeds and salt. Add to cabbage mixture and cook 5 minutes more until everything is soft the liquid has reduced a bit. Drop bits of the butter on and give a final stir.

Serve as is on a baked potato, or with a lovely cheddar-ry sausage! (If you start pan-frying the sausage at the same time, the sausage should be done when the cabbage is.)

For a vegan version, leave out the bacon, and add a bit of chipotle pepper for that smoky flavor and a bit more salt to make up for the saltiness of bacon.