French Flageolet Bean and Cabbage Cassoulet with Rosemary

My two rosemary plants are in full bloom, the pantry is stocked with all sorts of beans and I have been craving a hearty cassoulet.  I also had a head of cabbage that needed to be used, thoughts of that with caraway seeds and the flageolet beans were cooked the day before; this is the recipe that developed as I began cutting the cabbage.  A hearty Vegetarian cassoulet!

French Flageolet beans are a small pale green bean. If you can't find these substitute a small white bean such as navy beans or cannelini beans.

French Flageolet Bean and Cabbage Cassoulet with Rosemary

Serves 8

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1 large Onion (about 1 ½ cups diced)

1 large Shallot, minced

2 Celery stalks, sliced (about 1 cup)

2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp whole Caraway Seed 

I head of Cabbage cut in chunks (about 4-6 cups)

2 large Carrots, sliced (about 2 cups)

3 cups cooked French Flageolet Beans

6 small Russet Potatoes, peeled and cut in quarters

6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

Water as needed

2 bay leaves

1 sprig of fresh Rosemary

Salt and Pepper (I do this after cooking, but you can add it during if you prefer)

In a large stock pot, sauté onions, shallot, carrots, celery, and garlic in a bit of vegetable stock for 5 minutes; add cabbage, potatoes, rosemary sprig, caraway seed, bay leaves and 5 cups of vegetable stock to cover. Simmer partially covered about 20 minutes or until cabbage is almost tender. Watch the liquid and if you need more, add water or more vegetable stock. Stir in beans and simmer partially covered another 15-20 minutes until potatoes are cooked through.  The cabbage should melt in your mouth!  

Serve in shallow soup bowls garnished with fresh rosemary, in bloom (if available) and some hearty, crusty whole grain bread to soak up the juices.  Season with salt and pepper.

Peruano Bean, Red Kale and Tomato Soup with Parsley Pesto

Peruano Bean, Red Kale and Tomato Soup with Parsley Pesto 

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2 cups Peruano Beans (Canary Beans), dry

4 cloves Garlic

4 Carrots, sliced

3 stalks Celery, diced

1 red bell Pepper, diced

1 med to large Brown Onion

1 bunch or Red Kale, washed and sliced

5 cups Tomato Juice (unsalted)

6-8 cups water, herb or vegetable broth ***

1 teaspoon Sea Salt (optional)

½ teaspoon Pepper

3-4 Bay leaves

2 tsp Smoked Paprika

¼ tsp freshly grated Nutmeg

Parsley Pesto

1 ½ cups Parsley leaves

⅓ cup Parmesan cheese

2 cloves Garlic

1 Tbsp fresh Lemon juice

⅓ cup Olive Oil

Place garlic in food processor and pulse until minced, add remaining ingredients and pulse until blended but not liquid.

Bouquet Garni

6 sprigs fresh thyme

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 sprig fresh sage

4 sprigs fresh marjoram

Tie herbs together with kitchen string, toss in soup.

Directions for soup:

Pick over the beans and rinse in cold water. Place beans and bay leaves in a 6 quart dutch oven or stockpot, cover with water making sure it is about 2 inches above the beans; about 6 cups should do it. Bring beans to a boil; turn off heat and let sit, covered, for one hour.   

Prepare your vegetables while the beans are resting. Add your vegetables, herb garni and spices after the one hour. Hold off on the salt until beans are tender, (and the Parsley Pesto may be salty enough with the Parmesan cheese). Add the tomato juice, sliced kale and enough water to cover everything by an inch or two. 

Simmer until the beans and vegetables are tender, about 1½ hours.  Check every 20 minutes to make sure that the vegetables are still covered in broth.  This is a thick, chunky soup but you will want some broth, you can use water or vegetable broth.  Serve soup in large bowls with a spoonful of the Parsley Pesto on top. 

***I often make an herb broth and let it simmer on the stove on the day that I am making soup., I make up an extra bouquet garni but without the bay leaves and add some onion scraps, potato peels and any other vegetable scraps that I have on hand. In this recipe I used the stems from the kale.  Wilted celery is another one you can add or use the celery leaves.  This broth is wonderful for just about any soup you are making and adds more flavor than water.

Don't toss these Red Kale stems, use them in your vegetable stock.

 My freezer Tomato Juice that I made in August.

Marinated Chick Peas with Greek Herbs

 

I cooked up a big batch of Garbanzo (chick peas) beans yesterday. This is how I prepared some of them today.

These would be delicious added to an Antipasto or a Greek Salad. You could replace the Mint with fresh Basil too, but I really like the addition of the Mint.  I used a Bergamot Mint which has citrus undertones.  If you want to grow just one mint, choose this one.  It also makes wonderful tea. 

Marinated Chick Peas with Greek Herbs

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Serving size: 2/3 cup
Servings: 11

930 grams Chick Peas, cooked (about 5 1/4 cups)

2 Tablespoons Garlic, minced

3 Tablespoons fresh Chives, minced

1/4 cup fresh Mint, rough chop 

1/4 cup fresh Greek Oregano, rough chop

100 gram white or red Onion, sliced thin (1 medium)

6 Tablespoons Olive Oil

8 Tablespoons Balsamic, Apple Cider or Red Wine Vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt, pink if you have it

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground Black Pepper

Toss all together and marinate, refrigerated several hours. It gets better as it marinates. I think this could be refrigerated for a week or more and only get better.

Greek Oregano in the Herb Garden

 One tablespoon of the fresh herb packs the same antioxidant punch as a medium-sized apple. Its high concentration of these plant compounds may help prevent cellular damage and reduce the risk of common killers such as cancer, heart disease, and hypertension. Oregano also has antimicrobial qualities. It contains thymol and carvacrol, strong antiseptics used in mouthwashes that inhibit growth of bacteria and fungi.

Fresh Picked Herbs from my Garden

Pretty Mint Flowers, I grow Mint in pots to keep it from taking over my garden.

YUMMY!!
 and it is Healthy Too

Nutritional Data Provided by NutriMirror