Look for fresh, undried shell beans at your Farmers Market. Many varities are in season during the late autumn months. But dried beans are good as long as they are soaked and extra care is taken in cooking. Quality canned beans are not impossible to find either. Use your judgement, I’d rather see this dish made with good canned beans than dry, chalky beans that were undercooked. Because when it come to beans– cooking them just right is the key to their success.
Marinated Shell Beans with Roasted Tomatoes
Print This Recipe Yield 6Source Inspired by MozzaPublished
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh shell beans in any combination, such as borlotti, black eyed peas, christmas lima, flageolet, cranberry
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for tomatoes
- 1 pound cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup flat leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh oregano, leaves only, chopped
- ½ cup lemon vinaigrette
Directions
Put each type of bean in a separate saucepan and cover by 2 inches with water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, add 1 tablespoon salt to each pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the beans are tender, but are not so soft as to be mushy. Between 20 and 45 minutes. Add more water while cooking if necessary. Each type of bean will require a different cooking time so monitor them closely. When cooked turn the heat off and let the beans cool completely in the water.
Meanwhile. Adjust oven rack to the center postition, then preheat to 300 degress F.
In a medium bowl, roll the tomatoes in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a big pinch of salt. Place a wire rack onto a baking sheet and spread the tomatoes out onto the wire rack in a single layer. Place in the oven and roast until the skins are shrivled but they are still plump and moist, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let the tomatoes cool to room temperature.
Combine the cooked, cool beans in a large mixing bowl. Add the parsley, oregano and the vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper, then carefully stir the beans to combine the flavors. Let the beans sit and marinate at least an hour. Transfer to a serving plate, top with roasted tomatoes and more black pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature.
The shot looks great but not fussily so. I haven’t been cooking much lately because I seem to never be home before 9PM, but this reminds me of something to make on one of those nights, or better, make double on a chill night and have extra sauce for later. Thanks for the recipe, and good luck w/your cookbook!
It’s a gorgeous shot, and by telling us you’re not keepin’ it real is keepin’ it real!
you carefully placing a caper garnish with your tweezers…please!
I go through phases in my photography, though I have never used a point and click for my blog. Sometimes I aim for natural and unstudied, other times I am as fussy as can be. I have not yet let food go bad however! I like to eat too much for that. Very glad you didn’t let those lovely cherry tomatoes go to waste. I think you need a tall stiff drink and a nice relaxing day off. P.S. How is one supposed to plate micro cilantro without tweezers?
As I’m sure you can imagine, I find self indulgent posts to be the ones most worth reading. (And writing 🙂 ) Love the pan!
Greg: you crack me up! You are so industrious and professional…yet you manage to stay real and right-now, right-here with us. Love ya!
Unlike you, I have already been doing some styling tricks on my blog. I have to in order to just stay close to the work you put out on a constant basis. Your blog is one of my “mentor blogs” that I don’t try to emulate but I aspire to meet the same quality standards.
An example in my latest post — see those perfect grate marks on those quesadilla buns? I didn’t cook them on a normal grill grate. I did them on a device called GrillGrates that is an aluminum piece with raised ridges (think of a heat sink on amplifiers or computer processors) to get flawless grill marks. If I wasn’t taking pictures, I would have just grilled them normally.
So yeah, I’m a styling floozy*, sue me. ha ha
*Previous word triggered profanity filter.…
You know, Greg, there are days I would just love to give you a big ole hug. I don’t get the tweezers, the vaseline, the spray bottles either unless it’s going in a magazine or cookbook. I eat the food I cook and what people see is what I’ve already eaten.
You’ll return to normal once the book is out and we’ve all plonked our money down to buy it. 🙂
I know exactly what you mean! I only photograph food we’re about to eat (although the leftovers have made a next day appearance on occasion)… and only yesterday I caved in to the temptation to take better pictures and shelled out for a 7D. What started out as “just another recipe blog” is fast becoming something of an obsession with me.
Good luck with the book!
I love simple sauces exactly like this one. Your photo drew me in and then the writing made me grin. My posts tend to be succint as well, but every now and then it’s fun to indulge in a bit more writing. I’m looking forward to checking out your cookbook! (I’m still giggling over your tweezers. I haven’t gone there yet myself, but I can see it happening eventually.)
Greg, I think you really need just one day off to slow down a bit. All will be well — I promise.
I love that vintage orange pan! I love reading about food styling and what they do. While I have been known to purchase serving pieces and fabrics for my photos, everything is actually added to “what we eat on”. I really don’t have props, per se, and take photos really, before eating!
“I even bought tweezers!” <– haa!
lookinng forward to the book!
Can’t wait for the book!
SO much of your story resonates with me; though I did pop for a DSLR a while back; my props have come from my kitchen or artifacts that I actually use to decorate my home and after a shoot? Well, it’s dinner! So not much fakery allowed and I’m good with that. But I do have tweezers; I’ve had a set of cooking tweezers forever that were barely used; I can’t even remember why I bought them, probably one of those, ‘Oh…something different for the kitchen…I must have it’ moments. They get used now.
I love the simplicity of this dish; when tomatoes start coming on in the summer and there are more than we know what to do with…this is they dish I will make.
It’s nice to meet the new you, and, in case you are worried, the old you still happily shines through in your post, which I enjoyed very much. Congratulations on your book!
This sounds fabulous! I know you’re stressed out with the book, but I have no doubt it’ll be a huge success!