Greens and White Bean Stew

Greens and White Bean Stew

With ice on the ground outside, this hearty and nutritious stew is a great warm-me-up dish.  This started as a Chard and White Bean stew that I adapted from this recipe on Smitten Kitchen.  If you've never poached eggs, don't be scared!  Just practice a few times, and know that if you break the yolk when transferring the egg from the paper towel to the stew, it doesn't matter.  You're going to break the yolk when you eat it anyway!  I know some people may find topping dishes with eggs a little strange, but I'm a huge proponent of eggs on top of almost anything.  In fact, I frequently top salads with two eggs over-medium for protein and flavoring.  If the eggs are too much for you, I recommend at least doing the garlicy toast part of the recipe.  It's delightful!

ENJOY!

Greens and White Bean Stew


Approx. 2 pounds greens (I used one medium bunch of green chard, one small bunch of kale and several big handfuls of baby spinach), ribs and stems removed and cleaned
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup + chopped carrots
1 cup + chopped celery
1 cup chopped shallots (about 4 medium shallots)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry white wine (I used the super cheap – but surprisingly good – Oak Leaf sauvignon blanc)
2 15-ounce cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups (or more to taste) vegetable broth
1 cup crushed tomatoes (from one 15-ounce can)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Optional, but strongly recommended:
Toasted bread slices (I used leftover, somewhat stale french bread slices)
Poached eggs 
Freshly grated Parmesan

Mise en Place for Greens and White Bean Stew

Bring medium-large pot of salted water to boil. Tear/chop chard and kale (or any heavier green that you’re using; no need to precook baby spinach) and cook for a minute or so.  Drain and squeeze out as much extra water as possible.

Wine for the cook!

Wipe out pot to dry it, and heat olive oil over medium. Add carrots, celery, shallots and garlic and saute for 15 minutes or to a nice light golden color.  Add wine and stir to scrape up any bits on bottom of pot.  Cook until it is reduced by about half or a little more. Add beans, broth, tomatoes, a few pinches of salt, freshly ground black pepper, thyme and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add precooked chard and kale (or other heavier greens that you’re using) and baby spinach and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove thyme and bay leaf.  If you want a thinner stew, add more vegetable broth.  Salt and pepper to taste.

If you’re keeping things simple, serve as is drizzled with sherry vinegar. 

If you want to take it up a notch – which I strongly recommend – heavily toast one or two slices of French bread for each bowl of stew that you’re serving.  Cut several cloves of garlic in half and generously rub the cut sides on both sides of each piece of toast.  Place the toast in the bottom of the bowls before ladling stew into them. 

To take it up even another notch – definitely more work, but SO worth it! – poach one or two eggs to place on top of each serving of stew and top that with freshly grated Parmesan.  Sprinkle the sherry vinegar of top of that. 

So, the ultimate greens and white bean stew concoction in layers: garlicy toast, greens and white bean stew, two poached eggs, freshly grated Parmesan, and a sprinkling of sherry vinegar.  

Greens and White Bean Stew with Garlicy Toast, Poached Eggs and Parmesan