Brothy White Beans with Fresh Kale
Deeply comforting and oh so good for you, these garlicky brothy white beans with kale pack a lot of flavour and nutrition into one pot! Baked in the oven until the beans are creamy in texture, it’s a hands off recipe with only 10 minutes of prep.
Equipment
- heavy bottomed oven-safe pot
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried white beans any kind, soaked 12-24 hours
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 2 bulbs garlic
- 8 cups water
- 2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon No-Chicken concentrate or sub 8 cups gluten free vegetable broth for water and BTB
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup sun dried tomato finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 3 cups finely chopped kale about 1 small bunch, or 3 very large leaves
- pinch chile flakes optional
Optional, for serving
- sourdough bread toasted
- homemade chile oil
Instructions
- Soak your beans the night before. Place the beans in a large, oven-proof pot and cover them with enough water to allow them to expand - they’ll grow 3 times in size! Cover and leave on the counter until you’re ready to cook.
- When you’re ready to cook, rinse and drain your beans and put them back into the same pot. Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190℃).
- Slice the top off the garlic bulbs to expose the cloves inside. Toss both bulbs into pot along with the water and BTB (or broth), diced onion, olive oil, sundried tomato, tomato paste, paprika, cumin and salt.
- Bake for 90 minutes. Carefully remove lid, test a bean for doneness, add the kale and then bake until beans are creamy and tender, about 15 - 30 minutes more. If your beans are old, they could take a bit longer to cook.
- Carefully remove the garlic bulbs from the beans and let them cool for a few minutes. Then, squeeze or pick the roasted garlic out of the bulb and mash them into the broth. It seems like a lot of garlic but it’s super mellow. Another option: reserve one bulb for spreading over the sourdough I highly recommend you serve with these beans!
- Add a generous pinch of chili flakes, if using, taste the broth, adjust salt and pepper if necessary. For a complete meal, serve with some crusty bread and if you want a bit more heat, my homemade chili oil. With a wee one in the house, we omit the chile flakes and add chili oil at the table.
Notes
GF Note: if you have celiac disease, BTB is not gluten free! Sub gluten free vegetable broth, or water plus GF vegetable bouillon cubes to taste.