January worthy beans

warming, palate spiking beans

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As it is winter and we had more than of our share of dining out I was craving something home-y something familiar but with a twist please. I scrolled down my blog to see what I have cooked and eaten in the past Januaries. This bean dish was right there and spoke to me as I had all the ingredients in the cupboards and fridge. So here it is:

The idea was to use dried beans but as I had frozen from summer flagolet beans, I opted to use those. I always try to freeze some beans before they were dried, as I find them more delicious and tender. So the star of this dish is obviously frozen-from-fresh flagolet beans, but let’s not forget the supporting cast, they take a regular bean dish to new heights: onions and red onions, fragrant olive oil, tender Swiss chard, some leftover arugula, slightly wonky baby carrots from the organic market, aromatic caraway, fresh ginger, garlic, and—here’s the surprise—some mustard and pickled cucumbers.

A mishmash, right?

But trust me, the result was worth.