I am not a vegetarian, but I eat a lot of meatless meals and/or plenty of vegetable sides with meat. I've also been tasked with cooking for a vegetarian living in our house for the past year, and counting. I'm always on the hunt for something new to explore culinary wise. I know, there are plenty of recipes out there on the net and veggie cookbooks galore, but sometimes suggestions from like minded people can spark an interest in a sea awash with too many options. Post your favs here. Easy-peasy is great, but to all-day-in-the-kicth works too. Shortcuts with prepackaged item are great too. Links to good recipes work too.
I'll start with an easy-peasy side dish that hits big on flavor and checks the protein box too.
Pan roasted butter beans with rosemary and EVO.
1 can of Butter Beans drained and rinsed. Spread out on a paper towel to dry some of the rinse water off.
2-3 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary. Use only fresh rosemary, dried does not work for this.
Cooking olive oil
Good EVO you'd use in a salad.
Sea salt.
-In a non-stick pan heat a little cooking olive oil ( a TBS or 2) and add beans.
-Add sea salt to taste.
-Pan roast the beans over low-med heat for 10 min. You want some browning. Carful -beans may pop as they are heated. I use low heat. A pan cover works here too. Stir occasionally.
-Add chopped rosemary about midway thru the browning. The beans don't need to be browned all over. You're are just heating/cooking the beans with some caramelization.
-If pan becomes excessively dry add more cooking olive oil. The beans will absorb oil as they cook, but don't add too much of the cheap oil while cooking because you want the beans to absorb the good oil at the end.
-The more you cook and stir the beans the more they break up. Some paste from broken beans is good. If you want a bean spread instead of a bean side dish, keep cooking and stirring.
-When beans are done to your liking, and they should be a little dry in the pan ( but not completely parched) , turn off heat and wait 30 seconds-1 minute for pan to cool slightly- you just don't want to overheat your good oil. While beans are still warm add a generous amount of your good EVO. The better the EVO, the better this bean dish gets. Give it a quick stir and serve.
Serve it as a side dish, or if you cooked it to a paste, spread it on good toasted French baguette.
I'll start with an easy-peasy side dish that hits big on flavor and checks the protein box too.
Pan roasted butter beans with rosemary and EVO.
1 can of Butter Beans drained and rinsed. Spread out on a paper towel to dry some of the rinse water off.
2-3 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary. Use only fresh rosemary, dried does not work for this.
Cooking olive oil
Good EVO you'd use in a salad.
Sea salt.
-In a non-stick pan heat a little cooking olive oil ( a TBS or 2) and add beans.
-Add sea salt to taste.
-Pan roast the beans over low-med heat for 10 min. You want some browning. Carful -beans may pop as they are heated. I use low heat. A pan cover works here too. Stir occasionally.
-Add chopped rosemary about midway thru the browning. The beans don't need to be browned all over. You're are just heating/cooking the beans with some caramelization.
-If pan becomes excessively dry add more cooking olive oil. The beans will absorb oil as they cook, but don't add too much of the cheap oil while cooking because you want the beans to absorb the good oil at the end.
-The more you cook and stir the beans the more they break up. Some paste from broken beans is good. If you want a bean spread instead of a bean side dish, keep cooking and stirring.
-When beans are done to your liking, and they should be a little dry in the pan ( but not completely parched) , turn off heat and wait 30 seconds-1 minute for pan to cool slightly- you just don't want to overheat your good oil. While beans are still warm add a generous amount of your good EVO. The better the EVO, the better this bean dish gets. Give it a quick stir and serve.
Serve it as a side dish, or if you cooked it to a paste, spread it on good toasted French baguette.
