#30daysofblogging Day 3: Sauteed Tuscan white beans & kale

Last night I made something up in the kitchen, and it was super tasty. I must say: I'm pretty proud of myself for this one. I was inspired by fresh veggies and herbs as well as Tuscan soups. What do you call a soup that doesn't sit in broth? I guess it's a sautée, thanks internet!

Nothing inspires me more than a kitchen full of just-unpacked veggies from a local farm. I had to cook something last night, but I didn't want to make something so unportable as a soup (don't get me started on how many mornings have ended very badly as I try to transport soup to work). Instead, this recipe is extremely comforting, totally vegan, absolutely delicious, super healthy, and won't make you need to go buy a new messenger bag after you get to work in the morning!

INGREDIENTS
· 2 heads spring garlic, or 2 cloves or however much darn garlic you want, chopped
· 1 small onion, roughly diced
· A combination of new potatoes + small Tokyo turnips (I used 3 small new potatoes/5 turnips) --    roughly diced
· 1 bunch Lacinato kale, de-stemmed and chopped
· 1 bunch turnip greens (which you already have from your turnips), de-stemmed and chopped
· 1 can white beans, drained + rinsed
· Fresh herbs (I used oregano and basil)
· Almond milk (I used Can-Can classic almond milk, an SF-based company!)
· Olive oil
· Water
· Salt + Pepper
· Red pepper flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

· First, warm olive oil in a deep pan with garlic + onion. I recently learned that if you heat them all at the same time, your garlic and onion are much less likely to burn! So far, so good.

· When soft, add potatoes + turnips + fresh herbs + red pepper flakes.

· After stirring, and mixing, and making sure these are pan frying a bit, add some water. I was very imprecise with this. I took the empty can where my white beans had been, filled it with some water, and poured some into the pan. Definitely not enough to cover everything!

· Add some salt + pepper.

· Add your white beans, and stir to combine.

· Then, add your greens! Once you add your greens, add a small amount of additional water, and stir.

· Once your greens begin to cook, now is the time to add the almond milk. Again, and I apologize -- this is imprecise. I was going for a very specifically not soupy concoction, but didn't know quite what that meant at the time. I shook up my almond milk and poured straight from the container. It couldn't have been more than 1/4 of a cup, really.

· All the while, please keep stirring -- you want to maintain that creamy consistency.

· Then, just wait for a a few minutes. Keep stirring, and you'll see everything come together. The creamy almond milk will begin to bubble, your greens will turn bright green, and mmmmmmm! You're ready to rock and roll.

· Turn off the heat, add salt + pepper to taste, and ENJOY.

Yeah, that's the stuff.

A couple of interesting notes:

· I accidentally used sweetened almond milk in this dish. Can-Can's classic almond milk is sweetened with dates and cinnamon. I had no idea until I'd already started pouring it in, and had a moment of panic, thinking I'd ruined the dish. Thankfully, I didn't -- in fact, the natural sweetness of date and cinnamon somehow enhances all of the other flavors, and adds goodness! I was so pleasantly surprised, and happy. But all the same, feel free to use unsweetened almond milk.

· I have been on an endless quest to figure out how not to hate turnips for years. I must say, I've finally found a recipe where I can't even tell turnips are included, and I eat happily away, not pushing them to the other side of the plate to throw in the trash after I'm done! YES!


If you try this recipe -- let me know how you like it, modify it, whatever. Thanks for reading!