We are always being told how important diversity is in our diet. It is advised that we consume at least 30 different plants each week in order for our gut to be at its optimum. The good news is that you can include herbs, spices, nuts and seeds in that list. So try adding herbs to each dish. Add fennel or nigella seeds, sprinkle with sesame seeds or toasted sunflower seeds. Make sure your cupboards are stocked with these tasty add-ins.
There are so many ways to incorporate these delicious ingredients. By choosing mixed beans in this recipe, I have included four plant types: kidney bean, cannellini, chickpea and butterbeans. They all taste slightly different and vary in texture too. Adding a bright punchy topping such as gremolata makes this even more delicious. You can also scatter breadcrumbs over the top of this dish for the final five minutes of baking to make it almost like a cassoulet. This is a drier bake though rather than a soupy, stew-like cassoulet.
You can also tuck a block of feta cheese or Boursin into the centre of the tray while this bakes, for a cheesy, creamy bean mix. Serve it with crusty toasted sourdough bread for luxurious beans on toast.
The beauty of tinned beans is that they’re the perfect fast food. There is no need to heat them, you can eat them direct from the tin, just drain and dress with a vinaigrette and stir some herbs through them. You can add beans to soup, curries and stews. Mashed, they also make a great potato alternative or a dip such as hummus. Beans are a fantastic source of protein and fibre. Add them to your new year’s shopping list. This recipe shows how convenient they are too. Drain, tip into the tray along with the remaining ingredients and bake. That’s it.
Incredibly versatile, this dish is ideal as a full-flavoured main course, or to eat with a green salad. You can also serve this with a baked potato, or as a side dish to meat or fish.
In an effort to increase diversity in my own diet, I’ve resumed my weekly vegetable box delivery with Galway farm Green Earth Organics. Our own garden has only a little kale and purple sprouting broccoli left, so it’s very handy having a weekly delivery of vegetables with which we can cook. It encourages me to be more creative seeing a box with random vegetables like celeriac and swede. Make cooking fun again for 2024.
Recipe: Tomato bean bake with gremolata
Lilly’s kitchen tips
- Soak dried beans overnight and cook them in a slow cooker. You can then freeze them in portions or use right away. Store them in the cooking water. It’s very affordable and the beans taste amazing.
- Stretch this bean bake even further by folding though some pasta or another tin of beans.
- Add some spices such as garam masala and a tin of coconut milk along with cubed tofu to make this a fast and easy curry.
