Pasta e Fagioli

I got some fabulous dried cannellini beans from Carollo's Italian Grocery this weekend and the first thing I did when I woke up on Monday was put them into my crock pot to simmer all day so they would be ready to eat at dinnertime. Cannellini beans are some of my favorites, but it's sometimes difficult to find them dried rather than in cans.

Pasta e fagioli is a classic Italian soup, often made with parmesan cheese and day-old bread. I didn't quite feel like soup, so I made it as a pasta dish. Cannellinis are soft beans, so when they're well cooked they start to mash when mixed in with the pasta, giving the whole dish a creamy and rich texture. We ate this with locally baked flat bread covered with garlic butter and minced parsley and some Sicilian black olives.

I would like to dedicate this fabulous dish to my mother, who taught me everything I need to know about pasta.

Pasta e Fagioli

• 2 cups cooked cannellini beans
• 1 bunch kale, stems removed, roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup peas
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 bay leaf
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup plus a couple tablespoons of olive oil
• about 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• about 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• about 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 8 ounces of short pasta
• sea salt, ground black pepper, crushed red pepper

Bring plenty of water to a rolling boil and cook the pasta until it is done. Various shapes and types (whole wheat, semolina, fresh, quinoa, etc) have different cooking times so check your package. Drain when finished.

Meanwhile, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot. Saute the onion until it starts becoming translucent, about ten minutes. Add in the garlic, tomatoes, carrots, kale, oregano, thyme, basil and bay leaf. Cook and stir until the kale begins to wilt and you can smell the fragrant spices and garlic.

Mix in the cooked pasta, beans, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil. Stir until combined and season liberally with salt, black pepper and crushed red peppers. Garnish each individual serving with almonds, green onions and parsley.

Sending this to Presto Pasta Nights, guest hosted by Three Cookies

Bright and Fresh Chickpea Salad

It's growing season again! Every Saturday morning from here until winter will be spent at the Kansas City Farmer's Market, where I will buy produce from my favorite farmers! See the "Food Sources" page to see links to my favorite stalls and farms. There isn't too much available just yet, and a lot of my favorite stalls (such as Hun's Garden) were still only selling plants, but I did come out with some good buys! Here's the loot I came home with this week!


Bryson's Farm:
- 4 red, juicy tomatoes
- 2 lovely bunches of asparagus
- 1/2 pound of creamy fingerling potatoes
- 3 exquisite heads of garlic
- 1 bunch of crisp red radishes


Goode Acres:
- 1 bag of crunchy baby romaine lettuce
- 1 bag of delicious curly green kale

I saw a stall I had never seen before, drawn in by the signs declaring "RAWSOME DELIGHTS." They were selling two different kinds of raw cacao treats! One was a coconut chocolate truffle and the other had dates and pecans. I went for the dates! Ingredients:
coconut, pecans, cashews, cacao, walnuts, dates, agave, coconut oil, sea salt
All organic. $3.50 for three treats - we haven't eaten any yet. I think I'll save them for late at night ;)

Carollo's Gourmet Grocery is a fantastic little Italian deli and shop in the farmer's market area. From there I brought home:
- about a pound of mixed olives: Sicilian green, Greek black and Gaeta olives
- (what I was really excited about!!) THREE POUNDS of dried cannellini beans!!!! I can hardly ever find these anywhere... so when I saw them, I bought three pounds! I'll be giving some to my mom. I'll probably be making a pasta fagioli soup with the kale from Goode Acres very soon :)

Another part of Market Saturdays is coming home and making lunch out of all the produce left in the kitchen from last week. I must use the old stuff before touching the new! I had a lot leftover this week and managed to make a very delicious salad from it.

This salad is light, fresh tasting, crunchy and nutritious. The dressing is slightly spicy and dances on your tongue. My husband says he is going to use the leftovers to make a pita sandwich for dinner this evening. I used leftover white basmati rice, but I can imagine that any sort of rice will be great, or even another grain like quinoa or kamut that you may have sitting around.

I hope some of you get as excited for growing season as I do. Here's to months and months of farmer's market Saturdays! CHEERS :)

Bright and Fresh Chickpea Salad

• 2 cups cold, cooked chickpeas
• 1 cup cold, cooked rice
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/2 a zucchini
• 1/2 tomato
• 1/2 bunch green onion
• 1-2 romaine lettuce leaves
• 1/2 a jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons or so of fresh parsley leaves
• small chunk of fresh ginger, skin removed
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 teaspoon stone ground or dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Chop the carrot and zucchini into very small pieces. Dice the green onions and tomato and tear the romaine lettuce into bite size pieces. Toss in a bowl along with the chickpeas and rice.

Roughly chop the jalapeno, garlic cloves, parsley and ginger and add to a food processor. Pulse a couple of times, then add in the lime juice, dijon mustard and olive oil. Combine until they form a thick, creamy dressing.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables and mix thoroughly. Let sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator for about fifteen minutes before enjoying.

(P.S. I know my pictures are never exactly professional - haha - but lately I've just been using my camera phone. So believe me, this salad is much brighter and delicious looking than the pictures allow for :)

Absolutely Spectacular Sweet Breakfast Couscous

I'm not the biggest couscous fan in the world, but I bought some from the bulk section at Whole Foods one day when I realized that whole wheat couscous existed. I haven't always enjoyed it as a savory dish, so I decided to experiment with it.

This amazing sweet salad is a perfect, well rounded and nutritious breakfast. It will give you a quick pick-me-up with its incredible taste and will keep you full until lunch time. This recipe makes a large batch, because you will be sure to eat it (for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, for a snack, for dessert…) It makes enough to feed two people breakfast for a whole week. If you’d like, cut the recipe in half. Experiment with the nuts (pecans, almonds or peanuts would do nicely), with the minced greens (extra nutrition and flavor), and with different amounts of dried fruit (chopped dried peaches, apricots, prunes).


If you have quinoa around the house, try using that instead. It will add a boost of protein.

Absolutely Spectacular Sweet Breakfast Couscous

• 1 ½ cups whole wheat couscous
• 1 ½ cups vegetable stock
• ½ of a red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/3 cup diced green onions
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts
• 1 inner stalk celery with leaves, chopped
• 2/3 cup minced fresh baby spinach, parsley or cilantro (your preference)
• ¾ cup dried fruits: cranberries, blueberries, raisins

For the dressing:

• 1 ½ tablespoons honey or suitable vegan substitute
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Bring the vegetable stock to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the couscous; cover and let sit for five minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Chill in the refrigerator, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for at least an hour.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a small container with a lid and shake vigorously until thoroughly mixed.

When the couscous is chilled to room temperature or below, add in the remaining ingredients and mix. Pour the dressing over the top and mix well. Either eat at room temperature or chill until cold.

To make a similar, savory couscous, make the following substitutions:

• Extra diced veggies instead of the dried fruit
• Balsamic or red wine vinegar for the apple cider vinegar
• Any favorite dried or fresh herb for the ground cinnamon, and increase to 1/4 teaspoon (dried) or 1 tablespoon (fresh)
• Eat warm instead of chilled

A rainbow of nutritious colors and delicious tastes!

Sending this to Presto Pasta Nights guest hosted by Sweet Artichoke

Honey Balsamic Beans and Rice

Beans and rice are a natural combination. From spicy, stew-like Cajun/Creole one dish meals to salad toppers to vegetarian burgers, beans and rice are a powerful duo that bring lots of nutrition, texture and taste to any dish. Here I decided to combine them into a cold salad. I've had many cold rice salads and many cold bean salads - so why not both? The honey balsamic dressing is one that I've made before to put on traditional lettuce salads. I've had sweet rice puddings and desserts before, but something told me the beans would like to be sweet.

Chinese long beans are available at my local farmer's market in the spring and summer. They look like two foot long green beans... or they can be red, purple, yellow, green or a combination! The ones I've used in this recipe are simply green, and are soft enough to eat when raw. Other varieties may need to be parboiled longer to be softened. If you don't have Chinese long beans available, use fresh green beans, and parboil them 4-5 minutes.

The brown rice is essential in making this salad wholesome and filling. Also, do not use canned beans. Even organic canned beans may have weird stuff added to them. Always use from dried. It takes extra time but it is worth it. See my "Tips and Tricks" page for how I deal with and prepare dried beans.

This honestly works as a breakfast, a lunch, or a dinner. To fix it up a bit more, add in some chopped lettuce or spinach or garnish with fresh herbs. This will keep in your refrigerator for about a week.

Honey Balsamic Beans and Rice

• 1 ½ cups cooked, cold brown rice
• 1 cup cooked, cold black beans
• 1 cup cooked, cold pinto beans
• ¾ cup cooked, cold northern beans
• 1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, minced
• 1 cup Chinese long beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
• ½ cup green onions, sliced diagonally in 1-inch pieces
• ½ cup toasted, unsalted almonds, roughly chopped 
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• For the dressing
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice (squeezed from a lemon)
• 1 ½ tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon

Bring four or five cups of water to a rolling boil in a medium pot. Add the salt and the cut long beans. Blanch for three minutes, then transfer the long beans to a bowl of iced water. After they have rested for a few minutes, drain and let dry.

To make the dressing, add the olive oil, honey, vinegar, lemon juice and tarragon to a small container with a tight-fitting lid. Place the lid on tight and vigorously shake until well blended.

In a large bowl, add the rice, beans, jalapeno, almonds and onions. Give the dressing another shake and pour all over the top. Toss everything together well, being careful not to smash too many beans.

Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before eating.

An array of colors, protein and wholesome sweetness