It’s not as if I’m totally rejecting French cuisine. But I have done something in the past three weeks that will likely irk my French chefs. I’ve shifted my diet to about 85% vegetarian and I’ve drop-kicked butter from my diet.
The one-two punch of constant traveling on book tour plus the holidays hit my scales hard. But as of today, I have lost eight pounds since early January. Keeping up with my New Year’s resolution to lose nearly 20 pounds. I’m an enthusiastic eater. I love wine. So how can I still have what I want and stay at a healthy weight? Eating better.
White Beans & Dark Greens Stew
A protein-packed healthy, vegetarian stew for cold winter days. Like most soups, this is a flexible way to use up leftover vegetables. Use kale, collard or other hearty greens. In my recent version, I included green beans from my mom's garden, but you could use corn, sweet potatoes, zucchini, additional carrots or artichokes. I used canned beans for convenience, but you can obviously include dried beans in their place. To make this properly vegetarian, simply swap vegetable stock for chicken.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 quarts chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 quart water
1 14 oz. can great northern or cannelloni beans, drained, rinsed
1 14 oz. can chopped and seeded tomatoes, or 2 cups fresh
1 to 2 cups other vegetables
1 tablespoon dried mixed Italian herbs
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 cup dried whole wheat pasta (optional)
2 cups kale or collard greens, roughly chopped
Salt, ground pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until
soft, about three minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the
stock, water, beans, tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, cayenne and pepper
and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the pasta and greens simmer about 15
minutes, or until the pasta has softened. Add soft and pepper to taste. Ladle
into bowls; sprinkle with grated Parmesan and a couple grinds of fresh pepper.To make this in an Instant Pot:Heat olive oil in the Instant Pot pan on saute. Add onion and cook until
soft, about three minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the
stock, water, beans, tomatoes, vegetables, herbs, cayenne and pepper
and pressure cook for 7 minutes. It can stay on warm for at least an hour. Serrve with grated cheese and fresh pepper.
This post was originally published in February 2009. It has been updated.
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