Sustainable Tuesday

Today is largely devoted to Sustainable Ballard....except for making tonight's dinner which is a loaf of freshly baked bread and Alice Water's Minestrone. The green beans are direct from my garden as is the kale which I used to substitute for the spinach. A small sweet potato substituted for the zucchini.

For reasons I cannot fathom I was never able to cook the cannellini beans. I followed the directions perfectly the first time - and they overcooked. Unable to soak them the second time, I was prepared for a very long cooking time - but had to leave the house, so I turned off the heat halfway through the cooking and just left them on the stove. When I returned from my errand, they too, were overcooked. I tried for last time this morning, using the pressure cooker, which is my default method of cooking beans. And strangely, though I had three times the water required, half the beans were overcooked and half terribly undercooked. I resorted to using the beans I thought to use from the start; a batch of navy beans I'd cooked a week ago and froze and extra portion of. I also added some rainbow pasta shells for good measure.

Minestrone
from Alice Waters ’The Art Of Simple Food’
Serves 8

1 cup dried cannellini or borlotti beans, soaked overnight and drained
2 teaspoons salt, and more to taste
3/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
3 cups water
1 small leek, finely chopped
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths
2 medium zucchini, cut into small dice
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 cups (about 1 pound) fresh spinach leaves, stemmed and chopped

1. In a large, wide pot, combine the beans with water to cover them by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 1 hour or until the beans are tender. Add a generous pinch of salt at the end of cooking. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid. (This will yield 2 1/2 to 3 cups of cooked beans.)

2. In a flameproof casserole, heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion and carrots. Cook, stirring often, for 15 minutes, or until tender. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook for 5 minutes longer. Add the water and bring to a boil.

3. Stir in the leek and green beans. Continue cooking for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and tomatoes. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Taste for salt and add more, if you like.

4. Add the cooked beans, 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid, and the spinach. Continue cooking for 5 minutes. (The soup simmers for 45 minutes.) If the soup is too thick, add more cooking liquid. Remove the bay leaf.

GARNISH

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan, or more to taste