White Beans with Black Kale and Savoy Cabbage

Here's an awesome vegetarian dish I am preparing tonight, mostly because the produce baskets are loaded up with half of the ingredients. The recipe is similar to a minestrone without the water and stock. It looks like total prep time should take 6 hours, but active cooking should be more like 40 minutes.

This will be a nice hearty, healthy dish prior to having large portions of dark chocolate for valentines day. I'm going to serve it over sourdough garlic bread as bruschetta, paired with a chardonnay.

The recipe comes from Local Flavors by Deborah Madison.

"White Beans with Black Kale and Savoy Cabbage

Ingredients
1 cup dried cannellini, navy beans or Gigantes, soaked for 4 hours or overnight

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 large onion, finely diced
3 Leeks, diced (white part only)

1 bunch black kale, the leaves stripped from the stems and slivered

1 small Savoy cabbage, quartered, cored, and chopped

2 plump garlic cloves, minced or pounded w a pinch of salt

1/2 cup chopped parsley

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to finish

1. Drain the soaked beans, then put them in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, add 1/2 tspn salt, lower heat and simmer until the beans are tender. about 1 and 1/2 hours

2. While the beans are cooking, chop all the vegetables. Rinse the leeks, kale and cabbage, but don't dry them.

3. Warm 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy wide skillet. Add the onion and leeks and cook over medium-low heat until the onion is soft but not browned, about 12 minutes. Add the kale, cabbage, garlic, parsley, and 2 tspns salt. Cook on low with the pan covered until the vegetables are soft and the volume greatly reduced, about 30 minutes.

4. When the beans are done, add them, along with a cup or two of their cooking liquid, to the pot. Simmer until the greens are completely tender. Taste for salt and season with pepper. Serve with, or over garlic toast drizzled with olive oil."