Marinated White Beans

Now, you might think that someone who cooks and writes about food for a living would always stop and make lovely meals, right? Wrong! And it’s not just me. I have seen well-respected culinary professionals eat all manner of ridiculous things as “meals” simply because whatever it was was ready and available here and now. I myself ate house-made croutons dunked in house-made blue cheese dressing–plus orange slices from the bar–for lunch or dinner on the fly a lot when I worked in a restaurant that shall remain nameless. In my defense, there aren’t that many cocktails that call for orange slices. (And the croutons and dressing were within easy hit-and-run reach.)

Even today my world works much better when I have something for lunches, snacks–and sometimes dinners–ready to grab pretty much all the time, because my eating habits haven’t really changed. In an effort not to eat only plain cottage cheese straight out of the carton for breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner, I now keep additional delicious, nutritious, convenience foods in my own fridge, too. A rich and healthy life should be easy, right?

I have a cherished array of recipes that can be thrown together quickly, last for days or longer in the fridge, and are best eaten chilled. And I continue to collect them. I assign extra points for foods that can be used in several different ways; it keeps things interesting. New Pickled Shrimp fits the bill, and so do the Marinated White Beans below. I seriously need to find a name for this category of food. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know.

Marinated White Beans are a terrific side dish on their own: creamy, lemony, garlicky, and so good. The flavor gets even better as the days pass, so make a big batch! They are lovely added to a green salad, perched atop crostini or bruschetta–alone or with a smear of Boursin or goat cheese–or included as part of an appetizer board. You can toss them with canned tuna, capers, and pimentos, and pretend you just got back from coastal Italy. I’ve added them to chicken wraps, Caesar salads, and relish trays. They are also quite nice straight out of the container with the fridge door standing open. (You can stretch your stash of Marinated White Beans by alternating bites of them with forkfuls of plain cottage cheese, which can also be enjoyed by refrigerator light if you’re quick.) You can even mash some up with the back of a fork and use as a spread for crackers or sandwiches. Or try the mashed beans on cucumber rounds with a sprinkle of feta sometime.

I use canned cannellini beans for this–I’m a fan of their sturdiness–but you could use navy beans, great northern beans, or even those big white lima beans. So you know, great northern beans are a little more fragile than the others, what with their delicate thin skins and all, so treat them gently. I am forever eating some of my Marinated White Beans just as soon as I’ve made them. But whichever kind of white beans you use, they are always much better after an overnight sojourn in the refrigerator.

As luck would have it, white beans are also incredibly good for you. Whether cannellini, navy, great northern, or lima, they are good sources of protein, fiber, iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and B vitamins. Beans help regulate blood sugar, and are known to lower blood pressure. They are also quite budget-friendly if that matters to you. (It matters to me!) Plus, opening a can, rinsing a little, then adding a quick dressing is just about the easiest preparation I can think of, short of nicking orange slices off the service bar.

⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Zest of one lemon, plus 1 T. lemon juice
1 t. honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
1 T. fresh oregano, or 1 t. dried
½ t. black pepper
Salt to taste
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Put all ingredients except beans in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add beans. Toss. You can serve immediately, but the flavors meld and bloom overnight. These keep for a week or so in the fridge.