This week’s ingredient is….CANNELLINI BEANS. Or otherwise know as White Kidney Beans, one of my all-time favorite ingredients. Beans are a wonderful ingredient because not only are they low cost, but they are filling, packed with nutrients and can be used to replace meat in many recipes. By using them to replace meats in your dishes, you can significantly lower the cost of a recipe by up to 50%.
Last week I took a trip to the Publix Italian Days sale going on, and was able to get Progresso Cannellini Beans for as low as $0.16 per can. This is a great deal, because I don’t see canned cannellini beans go on sale very often and their regular price is around $1.59 per can on average. So, if you didn’t get that deal, your best way to save on beans is to buy dried and cook them yourself and freeze in individual containers. Checkout my Northern Beans recipe post on how to cook then in a slow cooker. Just follow the basic directions, minus the ingredients. You want to cook them with no ingredients (no onions, salt, etc).
Here are a few of my favorite ways to prepare CANNELLINI BEANS:
Picnic Pasta – This might be my favorite way to serve cannellini beans. I love pasta, and this is a room-temperature dish that is great to take as carry-out.
Kale and Bean Ragout– I get so many questions on “what is a ragout“? It is basically a dish that is slow cooked over low heat. This is wonderful as a main dish or a side, and is great to use on crostini when there are leftovers!
Beans & Greens Salad (by Rachel Ray) – I thought I had my own adaptation of this on my blog, but apparently not. This is a very tasty way to use beans for summer dishes. I often substitute the escarole for green leaf lettuce, I just don’t marinate it.
Yes, I LOVE soups, so here are my favorite soups:
Note: This post will be a weekly Thursday post, however I totally flaked until this morning, realizing I forgot to post this yesterday!
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I love these beans in white chicken chili! But, I make mine differently (got the recipe from a friend) I also add a creamy base of sour cream and heavy whipping cream… SO YUMMY!