Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Beans 'n' Greens, Avocado and Apple Salad



Over the weekend I tried a recipe for Red Beans and Greens from Judith Finlayson's 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes (2004). It took 2 cups of dried red kidney beans, plus the usual suspects :), and simmered forever. I followed her recipe, except for sauteeing in oil. Then she asked that 2 pounds of steamed greens (such as collard or kale) be added, tossed with 'butter' and balsamic vinegar (See NOTE below). Again I skipped the oily ingredient and since I can't buy collard greens and was out of kale I used chard.

It was very good and quite the nicest way I've had my greens in a long time. I dished it (except for the garnish of tomatoes and cilantro I chose) and kept it warm until we'd had our salad. Garnished, as you see above, I served the beans and greens simply an oven-baked sweet potato in its jacket, which we like to eat plain.

NOTE: I should mention that I took out the portion needed for the two of us and used a proportionately smaller amount of chard to mix with it. The rest of the beans, without the greens, was saved for another time!

Here's the salad that preceded the main course - avocado, apple, celery, chunks of heritage tomato, tossed with a homemade 'vinaigrette' and served on a bed of baby spinach, garnished with a handful of beansprouts. Lovely!

3 comments:

Sheree' said...

I am back online and so excited to be able to visit everyone. I love chard. I use it in place of collard and kale many times. The salad combination sounds wonderful.

Anonymous said...

I love the look of that salad! It sounds incredibly good. We rarely eat salads, I don't know why really but I should start making them more often!

River said...

Hi both of you!

I've never been big on greens - hot or cold - until this last year, when I have unaccountably starting eating them and enjoying them. Go figure! I'm putting greens in and with everything except my morning oats - and you never know when I might add them in there either!!!

I still don't like 'ordinary' salads with too much green leafy fodder in them, so I usually 'frill' them up a bit with fruit, both fresh and dried. Then of course I have to mess around with finding a light dressing (don't like heavy ones) without oil, since it doesn't go as well with me as I'd like.

Thanks to you both for your kind comments. Come visit again soon, please - this blog needs friends like you!!!!

Hugs and love!