Happy Fri-YAY, peeps!
Today, I’m sharing a yummy, easy vegan dinner because we are now in Lent. Well, everyone is in Lent except us Eastern Orthodox Christians (we start on Monday!). For the past five years, my whole crew has gone vegetarian/vegan for the whole 40 days… which means I am currently in major meal planning mode. My criteria for a good Lenten meal is something delicious, easy, and quick. Because life is crazy and unpredictable.
Which is why I am obsessed with these Stewed Greek-Style Cannellini Beans.
They are a 45-minute-dinner riff of my Gigantes recipe, which requires hunting down dried gigante beans AND soaking them overnight. One of my mom’s friends actually told me how she used cannellini beans instead of the gigantes to make a quick weeknight dinner for her husband. And I was like, hi you’re brilliant. So, thank you, Mrs. McC. You are my inspiration behind this perfect quick vegan dinner.
It starts with a flavorful tomato sauce.
In a large, deep-side skillet set over medium heat, add in some olive oil. When the oil is hot, add in one large onion that has been finely diced. Cook the onion until soft and golden. I then added in some diced fresh tomatoes (or drained canned ones work too!) and cooked them until they were soft and tender. Season the whole mixture with salt, pepper, dried oregano, and hot red pepper flakes.
Then dump in some canned cannellini beans that have been drained and rinsed. Stir everything to combined.
Pour the beans into a baking dish and top with slices of fresh tomato – I used a combination of small grape tomatoes and larger Roma tomatoes. Sprinkle the tomatoes with a little kosher salt and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
Pop the baking dish into a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and delicious.
SERIOUSLY?
How excited is your crew going to be when you serve this up with a bunch of crusty bread?
(very excited)
It’s delicious, nutritious, and fast enough for a weeknight dinner.
And if that is not perfection, I don’t know what is…
oxox,
Catherine
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 cups diced fresh tomato - note: drained, low-sodium diced canned tomatoes work here too!
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2-15oz cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed well
- Fresh tomatoes halves/slices, enough to cover the top of the beans (depends on size of tomato)
- Salt to taste
- Olive oil to drizzle
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large, deep-sided skillet set over medium heat, add in olive oil. When the oil is hot, add in the onion and cook until soft and golden - about 5 minutes.
- Add in the fresh tomato and cook until soft, another 3-5 minutes.
- Season the tomato mixture with salt, pepper, oregano, and pepper flakes. Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add in the beans and stir to combine. Pour bean/tomato mixture into a baking pan. Top with tomato slices. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and drizzle over some olive oil.
- Bake the beans for 30-35 minutes until bubbly and soft.
- Allow to cool slightly before digging in!
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