Chipotle White Beans with Kale and Chard

So, if you haven't picked up on this already, I'm tend to be a creature of habit when it comes to cooking. A few things to know about me:

1. I'm a regular at Haymarket - Boston's big public market - on Saturday mornings for produce, dairy and bread needs. I've maintained this routine largely for 6 years, including going in sub degree weather when they have heaters on. Yup, dedication.

2. I usually cook for the week on Sundays. There's something about it that relaxes me and I love the hours I'll spend in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon / evening cooking, knowing that I will always have great food to come home to or bring for lunch without any real thinking.

OK, now that that's out, on to the second kale related recipe for last week's eatings, compliments of Heidi at 101cookbooks.

Giant Chipotle White Beans
Adapted from 101cookbooks

1 lb white beans, soaked overnight
kale / chard, mmm greens - finely chopped, about 2/3 cup
chipotle in adobo sauce, with 2 TB of sauce reserved
14 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup queso fresco / feta
pinch of red pepper flakes
extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
breadcrumbs
1 TB fresh oregano
salt

** Heidi serves this with a cilantro pesto, which I sadly didn't try, after forgetting to buy cilantro at the market ... Highly recommend giving that a whirl though. Visit her site for the recipe.

After soaking the beans overnight, cover with 1-2 inches of water, bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 1-2 hours, until they are tender, but still maintaining a big of rigidity. Mine took an hour and 45 minutes.

Once cooked, add a hefty amount of salt to the water so it's a salty broth to taste. Let them sit in this broth for 10 minutes before draining and setting aside.

Now, make your sauce. Put oil, red pepper flakes, salt and garlic in a pan, heat until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and the oregano and stir. Remove from heat, add adobo sauce and diced chipotle (I like it spicy, so I added the chipotle). Toss the kale in the sauce.



Add the beans, then put in a casserole dish. Break up cheese into the beans.

Toast up the breadcrumbs with a bit of oil in the pan. Sprinkle on top of the beans and pop in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.

So yummy. The cilantro pesto then goes on top. I'll have to give that a whirl later.

When all else fails, use Kale

Kale was the featured ingredient of last week, something I was first introduced to in my young days of working as a waitress at Pizzeria Uno. Hey, I needed the money, don't judge me. Mandatory for all new Uno's employees was 15 hours of "pizza school" - kid you not - on top of on the floor training that most food services people are used to. As I was running my usual expo shift at the food window, the following phrase was ingrained in my mind ... so much that it's the title of this post -- "When all else fails, use kale." The trainer had a slightly annoying southern twang as this phrase rolled off her tongue, then followed by me non-chalantly rolling my eyes and counting the hours down until I could have a stiff drink. Not my proudest days, but hell, it was money.

Regardless, kale is often only known of as that annoying ruffage on your plate, under an orange slice or some other garnish. To counter that, I looked for a few recipes for last week featuring leafy greens, so here goes. Both were delicious, and let me tell you ... kale is cheeeeeeap at the grocery store, so if you're looking for a way to save some dough, go kale. Woo! Like, less than two dollars for over 2 lbs kind of cheap. Won a spot in my heart RIGHT THERE.

Ahem. Onwards.

On the menu for the week:
- Giant Chipotle White Beans with Kale and Chard, from Heidi at 101Cookbooks
- Winter Greens Lasagna, compliments of Chowhound

Both were insanely good, and not only fed me but also a number of co-workers, with some still to freeze. Can't wait for that night of no-cooking when I pull out a serving of this lasagna and bring it back to life. Nothing beats a good meal without the effort during the week.

So, starting with the lasagna ... which, I justify as being healthy due to all the kale and chard. Trust me, I can justify anything in this little head of mine ;)

Winter Greens Lasagna
From Chowhound

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium white onion
3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups heavy cream
1 pound kale, washed, tough stems removed, and coarsely chopped
1 pound Swiss chard, coarsely chopped

(KT: After making this, I'd even use a bit more greens ... hard to believe, but it really cooks down ... And I love chard stems, so I include ... but up to you )

1 1/2 cups crème fraîche

(KT: I had to use sour cream due to lack of creme fraiche at the store ... it works, but go for the real deal if you can find)

1 (9-ounce) box no-boil lasagna noodles
1 pound fresh ricotta
2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400. Meanwhile, in a heavy bottom pot, heat up some oil, and cook the garlic and onions, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes. Then, add the cream and start slowly adding the kale / chard. It takes a while to tame ... be patient. Season with salt and pepper for each layer you add as it wilts. Cook down until all greens are in the pot, about 10 minutes. Take off the heat.



Meanwhile, spread a cup of the creme fraiche / sour cream on the bottom of the pan.



Layer with noodles, then greens mixture (without added liquid), then top with ricotta and parmesan. I mixed the ricotta and parm together to kill two birds with one stone, but can do separate if desired. Keep layering, noodles, greens, ricotta + Parm until you run out of greens.



Pour the remaining creme mix over the top of the noodles. Then mix remaining sour cream / creme fraiche + Parm together and spread over the top. It's a messy process. Have fun with it.

Cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes until browned and bubbly. Yum.

Veggie Curry - jtw style

This one comes compliments of my colleague jtw, and is a simple and affordable recipe. And to boot, it will feed you for a week - if not providing you with some to freeze. Yum.

I made a pot of this for last week, as well as some chicken tikka masala. I had some flatbread and naan on hand, and some mango ginger chutney in the fridge. Put together for an easy, delicious indian feast. :)

jtw's Veggie Curry
Jar of garam masala (curry paste comes in diff heat levels. i usually use hot, but keep medium on hand, just in case i need to bring it back a few heat notches.)
olive oil or canola oil
head of cauliflower, cut into florets
6 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 medium onion, rough chopped
3 or 4 potatoes
chicken stock (or veggie, doesn't matter ... i've even used water before)
three handfuls of green beans
2 medium heads of broccoli, cut into florets
can of garbanzo beans (* optional, but i add for protein)

Muddle a heaping amount of the curry paste / garam masala with a good amount of olive oil in the bottom of a heavy, deep pot until the oil renders. You're going to be frying the cauliflower in this, so make sure there's enough muddled paste with oil to keep the veggies from sticking to the bottom or burning. Remember, you're building the dish from this, so it will seem fiery hot at the cauliflower stage ... but it will mellow a bit.

Add the cauliflower and fry in the paste / oil until soft.

Add the smashed garlic and the onion. Cook until the onion is limp.



Remove from heat, and chop in the potatoes until halfway up the pot. I use a deep deep pasta pot, so this takes a while :) also feeds an army ... Cover with water / chicken stock / can use bouillon until 1/2 inch above the veggies.



Continue to stir and cook down until the potatoes are fork tender and it turns into mush. Don't be afraid to even mash a few large pieces of veggies ... it's OK and frankly, kind of the point of the dish.

Meanwhile, stir fry the green beans and broccoli in a separate pan. Once the curry starts to take on a mush consistency (attractive, I know ... but this is absolutely delicious), add the broccoli and green beans. You can also blanch the beans and broccoli - whatever you prefer.



Add the can of garbanzo beans, stir and serve. Your house will have a wonderful spicy aroma ... one I really enjoy.

Fighting off the cold ... part II - a take on a pasta fagiole soup

I traditionally do the majority of my cooking on Sundays ... it's therapeutic, gets me set for the week, and makes good meals on weeknights feasible, since it's all there.

Well, this past Sunday ... I broke routine. Leaving me with other things to cook up this week, things I'd been planning on noshing on this week, without the effort. It happens.

So when it came to lunch today, with the dreaded "wintry mix" falling outside (snow, rain, a mix of both, wind, ice -- all the nasty stuff), I reached for the shell pasta in my cupboard and just started putting things into a pot on the stove. What I ended up with was a hearty pasta fagiole-esque soup that took minimal effort and cleared out some ingredients in my fridge. This is somewhat unconventional, but hell - it's delicious.

First, drop some medium shell pasta (or something similar, I like the shells for this but feel free to play) into a pot of salted boiling water. Once those are cooked, drain all but a cup or two of liquid off (just slightly less than covering the pasta). Wilt some spinach into the pot, add a can of stewed tomatoes with liquid, a partially drained can of kidney beans, a spoonful of pesto for flavoring, and about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of tomato sauce if you have some on hand.

I often add pesto to pasta I'm cooking, even if I'm dressing it with sauce or something else. It lends a delicious saltiness to the pasta that I just crave for some reason. I added the tomato sauce here a) because I had it handy and b) because it helped thicken the sauce, outside of the starchy cooking liquid and the liquid from the beans.

Seasoning wise, I added some fresh cracked garlic salt, ground pepper, a bit of chili powder, some chicken bouillon powder since I didnt't have stock on hand, and then a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Stir, season as needed, and serve. Absolutely delicious, and take about 15-20 minutes.

Fighting off the cold ... part I -- risotto

It has been one helluva winter here in Boston, the coldest I remember since the dry, brainfreeze of a freezing winter in January 2004, and more snow than I've seen consecutively than January 2005 when the city shut down.

To beat the cold, I've been trying to hit the gym more to counter some comfort food recipes that help fight the cold and assist in me destressing.

I gave this creamy parmesan risotto a whirl last weekend, being a huge risotto fan but oddly enough, never making it myself. I had some leeks in my fridge from the public market, so I subbed out I medium onion for 1.5 leeks that I cut in half then sliced super thin. It made for a beautiful, heaping pot of risotto (could have fed easily 6 people from this). I served it with some dressed spinach with a quick grapefruit dressing. Oh, and of course a glass of the sauvignon blanc I cooked with :)

Creamy Parmesan Risotto

3 to 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1.5 leeks, or 1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer and keep warm over low heat. In a separate medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the onion is transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until it is well coated with the butter and starts to turn translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer gently until all the liquid is absorbed, 3 to 5 minutes. Ladle 1/2 cup of the warm broth into the rice mixture and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the broth is absorbed.

Repeat, adding 1/2 cup of broth at a time, until the rice is cooked through but still firm, 20 to 25 minutes total. Add the remaining butter and the salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of Parmesan. Stir to incorporate. Adjust seasoning with more salt to taste. Serve immediately, topping with additional Parmesan.

Voila! Enjoy :)