Before Thanksgiving I found myself at the bookstore looking for a specific cookbook, but found myself leaving with a different one. I was inadvertently seduced by the incredible full color photos and relative low price of Hedi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking.
When I got home, I eagerly looked through the book, reading recipe headers and salivated over the pictures. As lovely as the book is, I didn’t find anything that was particularly suited for my Thanksgiving Menu, so back up on the shelf it went.
Now months later I stand in my kitchen waiting for water to boil when I reach up and grab the book again. Looking through it, I stumbled upon a recipe for “Giant Crusty and Creamy White Beans with Greens.” The recipe details sauteing cooked beans until they are crusty on the outside and creamy on the inside. The beans are paired up with simple yet powerful flavors of garlic, onion and chard, then finished with a sprinkle of cheese.
It seemed like a recipe worth trying to me, but as always, I have a hard time following recipes exactly. I prefer to use them as an inspiration and then add my own twists. Plus, I wanted to transform this side dish into a full meal.
You can make pesto from herbs other than basil. I had found some lovely watercress at the farmer’s market and decided to make it into a pesto. I simply blended a handful of marcona-almonds with a small bunch of watercress and two cloves of garlic, then drizzled in olive oil until the desired consistency was reached.
I do eat almost exclusively vegetarian food, however once every couple months I’ll have a craving for smoked salmon. I only buy wild Alaskan salmon, as it comes from a sustainable fishery and is a much healthier product than farmed salmon.
This dish can easily be made vegan by omitting the salmon and the cheese, which also makes it a far less expensive dish.
I had some cooked butter beans left over from making soup, some pesto and sharp gouda cheese leftover from making pizza. I was also craving orzo and smoked salmon, so a quick stop by the store, and I had all the ingredients I needed to make an awesome dinner, with leftovers to bring to work the next day. Yeah, people were jealous when I pulled this out at lunch time.
Butter Bean Sauté with Chard and Smoked Salmon over Orzo with Pesto and Sun-Sundried Tomatoes
Adapted from Super Natural Cooking
Serves 2–3
- 1 cup cooked Butter Beans
- 1/2 medium Red Onion, chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic, minced
- 3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 5 stalks Chard
- 4 oz Smoked Salmon, optional
- Pinch Sea Salt
- Fresh Ground Pepper
- 1 cup Orzo
- 12 oil-packed Sun-Dried Tomatoes, sliced
- 1/4 cup Pesto
- Sharp Gouda or Parmesan, optional
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Tear the leafy part from the chard stalk and shred the leaves. Chop the the stalks into half inch pieces, set aside.
- When the skillet is hot, add the beans and chard stems and toss around in the oil. Let the beans sit, spread out in the skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Mix the beans and let cook for a few minutes on the other side.
- While the beans are cooking, add the orzo to the boiling water. It should take about 7 minutes to cook, so be sure to pay attention so it does not over-cook. When finished, drain, then toss with the pesto and sun dried tomatoes.
- Add the onion to the beans and cook a few minutes until it starts to soften. Then add the shredded chard leaves, garlic, smoked salmon, remaining 2 tbs olive oil and the salt and pepper. Toss to coat and cook until the chard has wilted.
- Plate the orzo, then top with the sauté. Garnish with desired amount of cheese shavings. To create nice shavings, use a vegetable peeler and gently cut across the end of the block.
So many good things going on here. Love it.
Love the flavor and ingredient combinations here. Sounds satisfying
This looks amazing, Andy! Beautiful photos.
Lovely photo…and esp enjoy the whimsy of the bicycle on the bowl.