Recipe: White Bean Rosemary Stew

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A variant on a recipe from Vegetarian Times, this is a pretty quick meal to make.  The original had peppers, which I dislike in some cases, so I focused on tomatoes.

 
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 medium-large sweet yellow onion, diced
1 Tbsp crushed garlic (about two cloves)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes or equivalent (A bit over 1 1/2 cups), drained.
1 can (14 oz), about 1 1/2 cups, low-sodium vegetable broth
1 can (14 oz) low-sodium white beans, drained and rinsed.
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed, dried rosemary
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

  1. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion starts to soften.
  2. Add tomatoes.  Saute until onions are soft.
  3. Add broth, beans, black pepper, rosemary, stir.
  4. Bring to boil, then simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. Add balsamic vinegar, stir in.  Cook another minute

The results?

The taste is interesting in a good way – the rosemary and pepper produce a fascinating combination that I can only describe as a kind of “spicy, woody flavor” that I’m digging – and the scent is amazing.  The onions came out a bit undercooked for my taste so I think I may need to cook them more before the tomatoes are added.  It was a little light though, and I suspect the low sodium ingredients may have made it too unsalty – a quick dash of salt does wonders.  The vinegar added a good kick, but I think red wine vinegar may be more appropriate.  Debating some thyme.

So the result is pretty good – next time I’ll watch how I cook the onions and try red wine vinegar.  Not going to mess with the salt quite yet – doing it to taste seems more appropriate since I like to cook low sodium.

This is one I want to stick with because for a quick-to-make dish, it has a pleasing, exotic taste.  Just have to tweak it a bit.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.