This side dish is delicious. Stephen thought it was ok, but I am a sucker for balsamic vinegar, so I loved it! It has a unique taste, so if you’re just beginning to build a relationship with plain vegetable dishes, you might want to wait a while before trying this.
Ingredients
This recipe makes 4 servings. The original recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, where it’s called “White beans & wilted spinach salad.” This dish is served warm, however, in which case I simply cannot file it into the “salad” category of my brain. Hence, the name change.
- 1 medium onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced (use one of my favorite kitchen tools ever – it will change your life)
- 1 Tbs olive oil (or thereabouts… of course I didn’t measure)
- 1 can navy beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (I used cannellini)
- 1 14 1/2-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried thyme (I used about 1/2 tsp because I’m not a fan of thyme if it’s too strong)
- 4 cups fresh spinach, torn (I was lazy and didn’t tear mine)
- 2 slices turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled (this didn’t make a huge difference in the flavor… if you have some on hand, use it, but if not, don’t worry about it)
- 4 tsp balsamic vinaigrette (you can also use red wine vinaigrette)
Directions
This seriously just takes a few minutes to put together.
- Sauté the onion and garlic with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until tender (about 3 minutes).
- Stir in the beans.
- Drain the tomatoes, reserving 1/3 cup liquid. Stir in the tomatoes, reserved liquid and thyme. Cook and stir until heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Add the spinach and bacon, stirring about 30 seconds to wilt the spinach.
- Divide into bowls and drizzle each bowl with 1 tsp vinaigrette (but seriously… who’s going to measure that?). Season with salt and pepper, and serve warm.
bonjourhan 