Instant Pot Rosemary and Garlic White Beans (Vegan)

Instant Pot Rosemary & Garlic White Beans served along with
Farro Salad with Beets & Carrots; Sauteed Broccolini with Garlic & Pine Nuts;
Cherry Tomatoes & Cucumbers drizzled with brown rice vinegar 

Recipe from The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook by Nisha Vora

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes about 7 cups

I’ve been told that it’s rude to lick your plate, but golly gee!  These beans are THAT good! This recipe makes a big batch and ½ cup is considered a serving size, so you’ll have plenty to go around. 

1 lb. dried cannellini beans (2¼ to 2½ cups) (I used dried lima beans because I couldn’t find dried cannellini beans.)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

¾ cup diced shallots

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped

10 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

3½ to 5½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth (Use the larger quantity if using un-soaked beans.)

2 bay leaves

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

½ cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (optional)

If you have time to soak the beans, place them in a large bowl and cover with 8 cups cold water along with 1 Tablespoon kosher salt.  Swish around until the salt is dissolved.  Soak for 8 hours or overnight.  Drain and rinse the beans with fresh water.

Select the Sauté setting on the Instant Pot and after a few minutes, add the olive oil, followed by the shallots.  Cook until the shallots are staring to brown, about 2 minutes.  Add the rosemary and garlic and stir occasionally until the garlic is soft and lightly golden, about 1 – 1 ½ minutes.  Select the Cancel setting.

Add the drained beans, 3 ½ cups broth (5 ½ cups for un-soaked beans), bay leaves, oregano, salt and pepper, stirring well to combine.

Secure the lid and set the Pressure Release to Sealing.  Select the Bean/Chili setting at High Pressure and set the cook time to 9 minutes** for soaked beans (or 55 minutes for un-soaked beans.)

Once the timer has completed and beeps, allow a Natural Pressure Release.  Open the pot, stir the beans, and discard the bay leaves.  Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.  Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.  Once cooled, store leftovers in a glass container or airtight storage container for 1 week.

**When making this again using lima beans instead of cannellini beans, I will set the timer for 7-8 minutes because mine came out just a bit on the too soft side.

Heirloom Bean and Mushroom Stew (Vegan

Serves 6

Recipe from Food52

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

We thought this was just scrumptious.  It’s such a simple dish and easy to make, but it’s definitely company-worthy.

1 pound Christmas lima beans or other large limas

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 medium onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

6 ounces Portobello mushrooms, chopped

8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, thickly sliced

3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 heaping teaspoon dried thyme

1 (28 oz.) can plum tomatoes in puree

½ cup red wine

½ cup reserved bean cooking liquid

½ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Place the beans in a large pot and over with water by about two inches.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the beans are tender. (Christmas lima beans can take up to two hours.) Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid.  Clean and dry the pot. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in the same large pot.  Add the onions and garlic, and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and thyme, raise the heat to medium-high and cook for 5 minutes longer, stirring constantly.  Add the tomatoes including the puree, crushing the tomatoes with your hands and discarding any hard stem ends.  Add the wine, bean cooking liquid, parsley, salt and pepper.  Gently stir in the beans.  Simmer, partially covered for about 20 minutes.  Serve over soft polenta*, crusty bread, brown rice, noodles or pasta.  By my calculations, 1 of 6 servings is about 499 calories.

Soft Polenta (Makes 4 servings)

Recipe from Everyday Food

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

(Polenta has cheese and butter and so it is not vegan. If you wish to serve the stew vegan, serve it with brown rice or whole-wheat pasta or a crusty bread.)

4 cups water

1½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¾ cup yellow cornmeal or polenta (not quick-cooking)

¼ cup freshly, finely grated cheese (Parmesan, Asiago or sharp Cheddar)

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

In a large saucepan combine the water, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Whisking constantly, very gradually add the cornmeal in a thin stream, whisking until smooth before adding more.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, simmer, whisking often, until thickened, about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat; stir in the cheese and butter until smooth.  Serve immediately.  By my calculations, each serving is 135 calories.)

Technicolor Bean Salad

Serves 10 to 12

From The Silver Palate Cookbook

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

This is perfect for when you need a dish to take on a summer picnic.  Besides being very tasty, it’s colorful, can be made well in advance, full of fiber and protein and it feeds a crowd.  The Garlic Dressing recipe makes more than what the salad really needs, in my opinion, so I dress the salad and then pour extra dressing in a jar to use for other salads later.

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 can lima beans, drained and rinsed (I sometimes use frozen lima beans, cooked and drained.)

1 pound fresh green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces and blanched

1 cup scallions, chopped OR 1 cup minced red onion

½ cup chopped parsley (optional)

Toss all the prepared beans and onions together in a large bowl.  Add enough Garlic Dressing to coat the mixture.  (Set aside any extra dressing for another salad.)  Sprinkle the salad with parsley, if using.  Cover and chill the salad over night before serving.

Garlic Dressing

Makes about 1½ cups

1 large egg yolk

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

Kosher salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup olive oil

Combine the egg yolk, vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.  Process briefly.  With the motor running, slowly dribble in the olive oil.  Taste, correct seasoning, if necessary, and transfer to a storage container.

Blue Dog Bakery & Café-Inspired Wheat Berry Salad

Serves 8-10

Husband-Tested Recipe from Alice’s Kitchen

My husband and I recently had a very pleasant lunch at the Blue Dog Bakery & Café in Louisville, KY.  It was a lovely day, so we sat outside on the walk and watched the trains go by.  The meal was fabulous, sharing an incredibly delicious tuna salad, a soup featuring sweet corn and poblano peppers and a fancy summer berry cream tart, but the star of the lunch was the wheat berry salad.  As I ate it, I wrote down all the ingredients I could see and taste.  The waitress did say that it had walnut oil in it.  She also said that they vary the dried fruit.  Ours that day had raisins.  Friends of ours said they’ve had it with currants.  I love dried cranberries, so I used those.  Later on, I made a quick trip to Lost River Market & Deli for some winter wheat berries (from their bulk section) and made what I think is a very close version of Blue Dog’s salad.  It takes a bit of time to make because wheat berries take over an hour to cook, but once the berries are cooked, the salad comes together quickly.  Make this a day before you plan to serve it because it will taste even better the next day.  Perfect for a party or a picnic.

3 cups cooked wheat berries* (About 1 cup raw.)

2 cups (10 ounces) frozen lima beans, cooked per package directions

1/8 cup walnut oil

6 Tablespoons sunflower or canola oil

1/8 cup raspberry wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

1 cup dried cranberries, raisins or currants (Plump the dried fruit in very hot water for about 15 minutes.)

1 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

2 cups diced celery

1 shallot, minced or 1 cup sliced scallions

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place the warm, cooked and drained wheat berries in a large bowl. The wheat berries should be soft, but slightly chewy. After draining the lima beans, add them to the wheat berries and toss to combine. Combine walnut oil, sunflower oil and vinegar. Add to the winter berry/lima bean mixture. Toss. When bean mixture has cooled a bit, add the dried fruit, walnuts, celery and shallots. Toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*Cooking Winter Wheat Berries using the Rice Cooker:  Place 1 cup of raw wheat berries in a dry skillet over medium-high heat.  Toast, stirring constantly, until the grains pop and deepen in color, about 4 minutes.  (This step is optional, but I think it adds a nice toasty flavor.)  Place the wheat berries in the rice cooker bowl and cover with hot water; let soak in the machine for 1 hour.  Drain the wheat berries and return them to the rice cooker bowl.  Add 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt; swirl to combine.  Close the cover and set for the regular/Brown Rice cycle.  When the machine switches to the Keep Warm cycle, let the wheat berries steam for 15 minutes. Fluff with a wooden spoon or rice paddle. (Recipe from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook, also Husband-Tested)  

*Cooking Winter Wheat Berries using the Stovetop:  Add 1 cup of winter wheat berries to a large saucepan filled with enough salted water to cover them by a few inches.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, partially cover and cook the wheat berries until they are plump and tender, about 75 to 90 minutes.  Test as you cook; cooked wheat berries are still somewhat chewy.  Drain. (Also Husband-Tested)