An uninteresting post that fulfills the original purpose of this blog

The original reason I created this blog was as a convenient means of recording improvised recipes that my wife enjoyed so that I can reconstruct them at a later date. For the most part, when I've blogged about cooking, I've tried to post stuff that I think would be interesting or unusual, or at least provide tasty pictures.

This time, however, I just need to record something I whipped up last night from a combination of leftovers and pantry staples. It's nothing earth-shattering or interesting, but we enjoyed it, and I can pretty much always make this with stuff I have on hand.

So this post exists mostly so that I can Google my blog and find it later if I am looking for a tasty dinner. If my readers get anything out of it I will consider that purely coincidental.


Tomato and cannellini bean sauce

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 - 1 tsp chopped fresh herbs (oregano, savory, thyme, basil, etc.)
• 1 14.5-oz can cannellini beans
• 1 14.5-oz can chopped tomatoes¹
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper

Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and peppers along with a dash of kosher salt, and cook until starting to become tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and herbs and cook for additional 2-3 minutes. (If you are using a delicate herb like basil, wait until the end to add it)

Add beans with juices and simmer until it starts to thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices, scraping up any brown bits. Stir in crushed red pepper, and simmer for about 10 minutes for flavors to combine and sauce to thicken slightly. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve over rice or cous-cous.

¹I always stock my pantry with a copious amount of cans of whole tomatoes, because it is most versatile. If I want chopped tomatoes, I take them out of the juice and chop them. If I want diced tomatoes, I put the whole can in a food processor and pulse a few times until I get the desired fineness of dice. If I want crushed tomatoes... well, if I am planning ahead I will buy them, because blended whole tomatoes are not quite the same thing, but just pulsing it for longer in the food processor or putting it in a blender does a passable imitation for most recipes.