Cajun Style navy beans with sausage

The recipe for this was on the back of the cajun style navy beans package I got from Aldi. It said to use 2 cans, but I only used 1 and cooked it with 7-8 oz of sliced polish sausage. There was none leftover, so 2 cans and a whole package of sausage would be better.

This was a nice alternative to beanie weenie, as the seasonings were different and was less sugary. Cajun style beans are only an occasional thing at aldi though, so you could use regular canned navy beans (if they exist?) and just add paprika plus the spices in the recipe.

2 cans Cajun Style Navy beans
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion
2 celery stalks
1 green bell pepper
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (i used a pinch)
1 tsp thyme
[paprika]
[pound of polish sausage or andouille sausage]

Chop the veggies (except garlic) and saute in oil for 5-7 minutes. Then add chopped garlic and saute for 2 more minutes,. Then add beans, sausage, and seasonings.

Kale and White Bean Soup

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Kale-and-White-Bean-Soup-106153
Kale and White Bean Soup

This was good. It tasted great when the beans had broken down. I made it again a few days later, and the beans hadn't broken down much, so it wasn't as tasty.

Mexican Bean Salad

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mexican-bean-salad/

I loved this salad. I used half the salt and sugar called for and put in garbanzo beans instead of black since that's what I had. Next time I will also halve the oil and vinegar since there was too much.

This is best eaten in the first couple days since the cilantro will turn brown and there is a lot of starch released  into the oil which makes it thick and weird.

White Bean Dip

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/white-bean-dip-with-pita-chips-recipe/index.html
White Bean Dip

I actually made this several years ago, like five or so. It was super tasty and great. I got some compliments on it.

White Bean Chicken Chili

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/white-bean-chicken-chili/detail.aspx
White Bean Chicken Chili

This is another easy soup. Very tasty. I probably doubled the broth because I used the water I boiled the chicken in as broth. I also added the juice of 5 limes I had in the fridge that needed to be used. And I used a can of corn (undrained) instead of 2 fresh cobs. It was all very good! I happened to have only chicken thighs and it worked well.

Beet Greens and White Beans Saute

You can use beet greens, broccoli raab (aka rapini), kale, escarole, collard greens, or turnip greens. I used turnip greens. You can use any kind of white colored bean. This recipe is from the Culinary Institute of America: Vegetables cookbook. I altered it by adding ham.

It was very tasty.

chopped ham

2 T olive oil

2 T minced garlic

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional

10 cups coursely chopped beet greens (I didn't use near this much. Just a small bunch of turnip greens.

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste

2 cups cooked white beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp malt vinegar, or to taste (no clue what that is, I left it out)

Heat oil in pan and saute garlic until aromatic (about 1 min). Add red pepper, saute until aromatic (30 seconds).

Add greens and cook, stirring and tossing briskly with wooden spoon to coat the greens evenly with the oil. When the greens have cooked down and are a vivid green color, about 5 min, add broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring broth to a simmer, add beans (and ham) and cook, stirring frequently, until greens are fully wilted and dish is very hot. Season with vinegar.

Navy Bean Soup with Ham

I baked a ham (no glaze). I saved the ham water and used it as stock in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb navy beans (or white..I really can't tell the difference)

4 T oil

2 large onions, chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

3-5 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups chicken broth (or ham broth if you've got it)

3 cups water or broth ((use water if you are going to be clever and boil a ham bone in in the soup to get more flavor). I used chicken broth here. I might have added more so there was enough liquid. I forget.)

2 bay leaves

1 T italian seasoning

2 large potatoes, chopped

chopped ham (2 cups?)

directions:

I think I soaked the beans overnight and then made the beans in the crockpot. Cooked on low for 8 hrs I think, along with ham broth.

Saute onion, carrot, celery, and garlic until softish. Add beans (soaked or fully cooked) and the rest of ingredients. Boil until veges are cooked. (or for 2 hrs if beans were only soaked)

note: (I got this recipe off of the back of the Safeway Navy Beans wrapper. It says to use a 2 lb ham hock and cook it for 2 hrs with all the ingredients (and soaked beans). Then says to remove ham hock, cut ham off of it and return to soup.)

Turkey Chili with White Beans

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turkey-Chili-with-White-Beans-3090

I have made this according to the directions, as well as in the pressure cooker. It is good either way.

For the pressure cooker:

I browned the turkey and soaked ~1.5 cups dried white beans for 6 hours (longer is fine for sure, soak at least 4 hrs I think though). Rinse the beans. Then I put it all in my 4 quart pressure cooker pot with the rest of ingredients (raw chopped onion) and brought it to pressure, then cooked for 15-20 min, then let sit for 10 minutes off heat (so to let it naturally depressurize), then pulled off the pressure regulator and let the rest of the steam escape. Turned out great.

Kale and White Bean Stew

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/healthy/nutritiousdishes/lowcholesterolhearthealth/recipes/food/views/Kale-and-White-Bean-Stew-351254

This was pretty good considering how healthy it is. DH lamented the lack of meat (at which point I said I had planned on adding ham but he had eaten it). I swapped chicken broth for the vege broth. The fresh thyme is important for flavor. I put fresh tarragon in at the end and that made for a great flavor as well. Tarragon is awesome, by the way. It is great in yogurt sauce for gyros.