Normally in my bean recipes I use a lot of different spices. This year I had an abundance of herbs growing in the garden. I couldn’t let these go to waste. Therefore instead of using spices with a bean recipe I decided to use herbs. Herbs are great to grow. They require minimal effort and you don’t have to have huge garden to grow them.
Herbs can be grown in small pots in a small garden or on a window sill in a kitchen. They are fairly inexpensive to grow and can be grown from seed very easily. I am currently growing my herbs in pots on the patio in my garden and they have done so well in the warm weather we had this summer. The herbs have made dinners very tasty too. Especially this bean risotto. We all enjoyed this meal and we hope you like it too.
What’s your favourite herb and what meal/meals do you enjoy it in? Let me know in the comments below and please don’t forget to like and follow me.
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Chopping board
- Large saucepans x 2
- Colander x 1
Ingredients
- Dried cannellini beans x 200g
- Leek x 1
- Courgette x 1
- Red pepper x 1
- Bone broth or vegetable stock x 800mls
- Rosemary x 1 small handful
- Thyme x 1 small handful
- Lemon balm x 1 small handful
- Rice x 300g
- Tamari x 2 tbsps
- Butter x 4 knobs
- Nutritional yeast or parmesan
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Soak the cannellini beans overnight.
- Drain the beans through a colander and rinse them well.
- Add the beans to a large saucepan and cover the beans with water and then 2 inches above that as well.
- Put baking powder into the water and turn the heat onto high.
- Boil the beans for at least 20 mins.
- When they start to soften remove from the heat.
- Pour through the colander and rinse.
- Set aside.
- Remove the top and bottom of the leek and then slice it thinly.
- Set the leek to one side.
- Then remove the green core and seeds from the red pepper and slice it.
- Peel and grate the courgette and set these vegetables aside.
- Wash the rice in the colander and set to the side of the cooker.
- Put the large saucepan on a high heat and add the oil.
- Spread the oil across the base of the pan with the plastic brush.
- Once the pan is hot, add the leeks and fry until they have softened.
- Add in the red pepper and fry for another 5 minutes or until the pepper starts to soften.
- Now add in the courgette and fry for a further few minutes.
- Next add in the rice and fry until it becomes translucent.
- it should take around 30 seconds to 1 minutes.
- Pour in the broth or stock and stir all the ingredients together.
- Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Add in the tamari or soy sauce and again stir all these ingredients together.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Chop the herbs into small pieces.
- Add them to the risotto and stir.
- Finally add in the cannellini beans and stir them in.
- Sprinkle over nutritional yeast or parmesan.
- Then serve and enjoy.
Herby Bean Risotto was a hit in our house. The herbs added plenty of flavour and they made the meal so tasty. Unfortunately you can’t freeze rice so I don’t normally make a big batch of dinners like this one. I did eat this as leftovers the next day. As long as you eat rice cold the next day it’s ok. If you leave it any longer then it should be thrown away. However you decided to eat this dish, as always, please enjoy. Thank you xxx
Googies Kitchen Life 