This Cool and Bright Bean Dish Is an Affordable Alfresco Dinner
This is Dinner and Change, a column about recipes that feed four people for about $10—or less.
I’ve been preaching the gospel of low-and-slow cooking lately. The logic goes like this: If you’re juggling a lot, or there’s a lot on your mind, a flaming-hot skillet and a recipe that requires your undivided attention may not be the right move for dinner tonight. Instead, you may want to choose something that simmers lazily all day and is hot and ready whenever you are.
But as the weather warms, I want meals to be brighter and fresher—more like jumping in the sprinkler than sitting in a sauna. This light, vegetarian dinner satisfies both needs, and all for about $7 for four servings. (The recipe was developed as a first course that feeds eight, so dividing it into four portions will be just right for a main.)
The recipe calls for dried Great Northern beans, which you can buy for about $2 a bag. If you already have dried Navy beans, Cannellini beans, or other dried white beans in your pantry, there’s no need to buy anything new. They’ll work wonderfully, though you may need to cook the beans a bit longer (or shorter) depending on their size and how long they’ve been sitting on the grocery store shelf. You can also substitute canned white beans if you’ve got ‘em; just jump ahead in the recipe to the part where the drained beans get tossed in dressing.
If you’re starting with dried, though, the beans will cook in plain water after a long overnight soak. (You’ll add 2 bay leaves, plus a little salt toward the end, but that’s it.) The flavor here gets added after cooking, when you dress the drained beans with olive oil and fresh lemon juice, plus cumin, cayenne, red onion, and parsley, and let them sit. The fresh lemons are where you’re really spending money here, and they’re also the ingredient with the most impact. You’ll probably need to buy three lemons to get enough juice, but you’ll likely have an unsqueezed half leftover. (More on what to do with it below.)
The recipe notes that you can marinate the beans in their dressing at room temperature for two hours, but feel free to do this prep whenever you have time, keeping the dressed beans in the fridge until about an hour before you plan to serve them. Extra marinating will only add more flavor, and making a big batch of these at the start of the week feels like money in the bank.
At dinnertime, set out a big bowl of beans and a platter of clean lettuce leaves and let each eater wrap spoonfuls of beans in their own little wraps. The crunch of the lettuce and the creamy-tart filling is just what I’m craving these days, but of course, you can always pile these beans on toast instead.
White Bean Salad with Lemon and Cumin
Bon Appétit
The Breakdown
Dried Great Northern beans, $1.69, Bay leaves, $.28, Salt, $.02, Red onion $.25, Parsley $.25, Olive oil, $.78, Lemon, $2.23, Cumin, $.08, Cayenne, $.08, Lettuce, $1.78, Total: $7.44 ($1.86 per serving, at four servings). For more on how Epicurious prices out recipes, click here.
Use it Up
To make the most of your lemons, zest them before squeezing! Add the zest to your beans for extra punch, or use it to bake these classic blueberry muffins. You can also put the lemon to use in this pasta sauce, or go ahead and squeeze it into your water glass, use it in a cocktail, or freeze the extra juice and add to a sauce, soup, or smoothie later. As for leftover onion, it will be great in tomorrow’s eggs. Or slice and pickle it to use when taco night rolls around.
Originally Appeared on Epicurious
