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2/24/20

Beans & Kale Toast Adapted From Joe Yonan's Cool Beans Cookbook


A few weeks ago I won a copy of Joe Yonan's latest cookbook with a super fun title: Cool Beans.

I grew up eating my mom's white bean, carrot, and beef soup as well as her split pea soup. I then fell in love with hummus, Indian red lentils, French black lentils, and crispy chickpeas.

A cookbook about beans, then, is a welcomed addition to my bookshelf for sure!

The recipe that stood out to me both for its simplicity and its beauty was Garlicky Great Northern Beans And Broccoli Rabe Over Toast.

But................I did not have broccoli rabe, nor did I have the right beans. I decided to reinterpret Joe's recipe using curly kale and the white'ish variety of beans I had in my cupboard.

I soaked the beans according to Joe's instructions and then cooked them in a pressure cooker using two ingredients I would have never paired with beans: whole cloves and kombu (dried seaweed). Special shout out to my friend Sylvie for buying kombu for me.

The cloves and kombu gave a deep earthy flavor to the beans, but you would not be able to identify them without knowing they were there (a good thing in my book).

The rest of the recipe came together quickly: saute the kale in olive oil, add garlic, salt and pepper, and cooked beans with some of the liquid. Top toasted sourdough bread with the kale/bean mixture, drizzle with chili oil, and top with grated Parmesan.

I added a squeeze of Meyer lemon and a sprinkle of Korean chili flakes to my toast to brighten the flavors. 

What a beauty! Leftovers are great as lunch with a baked sweet potato or turned into an omelet.

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