Friday 9 December 2011

Simple white bean and yam stew


My office at school is overflowing with goodies left over from our lab Christmas party/potluck held on Wednesday. Bread, cheese, spinach dip, chips, cheetos and cakes are directly behind me and I can only ignore them for so long. All the more reason to keep trying make healthy suppers. 

I bought a can of white organic beans with the intention of making a white bean and sage dip for the aforementioned potluck but never did end up using them. I found a healthy and hearty white bean stew on Martha Stewart's website that I adapted for the recipe below. I used sage to flavour the dish because I have an abundance on hand but rosemary is what Martha used. I'm sure thyme or oregano would also be suitable. Make sure to use enough salt to bring out the flavours of this dish but do not go over board. I like to add pinches of salt incrementally and taste every few minutes.


Simple white bean and yam stew
Autumn seasonal: sage, carrots and yams 

Ingredients
1 can organic white beans
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 onion finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1 cup chopped sweet potato
1 can diced, organic tomatoes
A pinch of red pepper flakes 
1 tsp honey
Splash fresh lemon juice
1 bay leaf 
10 whole fresh sage leaves
1 cup water
Finely chopped fresh basil
Sea salt

Directions
1 - Saute garlic, onion and carrot for 5 minutes in a tsp of oil over medium heat (until soft but not brown), then add yam and saute an additional 5 minutes.
2 - Pulse the tomatoes briefly in a food processor (with juice).
3 - Stir the tomatoes, sage leaves, honey, white beans, red pepper flakes, 1 cup of water and sea salt to taste, into the pan and bring to a light boil.
4 - Simmer about 20 minutes or until carrots and sweet potato are soft.
5 - Remove bay leaf and sage leaves and serve beans with finely chopped fresh basil and fresh grated parmesan.


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