Weekend Cooking: New Year's Dip Quartet

One day early for Weekend Cooking but my great blogging friends Chinoiseries, Graasland and JannyAn are joining me in a blog special about dips. Because what is New Year's without a good dip? Of course you can run to the store to buy a quick dip, but making your own is much tastier, healthier and really easy! It is done in less than 5 minutes! If you have a large enough kitchen machine, that is ;) I had to make mine in two batches because the kitchen machine turned out to be too small ;) But it can easily made in advance :)

Bean Pate (Makes about 2 small jars)
- 425 gr canned white beans
- 130 gr cream cheese (if vegan use Tofutti Cream Cheese)
- 1 clove of garlic,
- 1 spring onion
- 3 tbsp pesto (I had red pesto in this case)

Add  the garlic and the spring onion to the kitchen machine and chop them finely. Rinse the white beans and drain them. Add them to the kitchen machine together with the pesto and cream cheese and purée everything together. If you have a small kitchen machine like me, then you can just do it in batches and stir them together later in a bowl so all ingredients are evenly mixed.

Great as a spread on Turkish bread, Bagels or to dip vegetables in! 

Also visit:
Gnoe at Graasland who made a carrot spread.
Chinoiseries at Always Cooking Up Something who made a roasted cauliflower dip.
JannyAn at JannyAn's Blog who made a blue cheese dip with eggs and walnut. (in Dutch)
This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Make sure you check out what everyone has been up to food wise :) It is great fun!

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Weekend Cooking: Mushroom Ragout

In this very hectic period, I have to admit that I am not cooking that much at all. I planned all easy and quick recipe last week, and this week I tossed the menu planning out of the window completely. However I made a vegetarian version of mushroom ragout. It is a thing that is often served on x-mas and New Years eve in the Netherlands but I haven't had it since I stopped eating meat. In the canned mushroom ragout they sell in the supermarket, there is still meat. Luckily Vegatopia provided :) Because the website is Dutch I will translate the recipe below.

Mushroom Ragout (serves 4 as a side)
- 500 gr mushrooms, sliced
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 50 gr butter
- 25 gr flour
- 200 ml vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves
- some wine (optional, I left it out)

Bake the mushrooms in some oil on high heat until the moist has vaporized and the mushrooms are soft. Turn the heat low and add garlic, butter and thyme. Add wine, if using, and leave it simmer for a bit. Sift in the flour and keep stirring until you get lumps. Now add the broth bit by bit and keep stirring until it thickens. Add some pepper and salt if desired but we didn't because the broth adds enough. Serve with Turkish bread or toast.

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Make sure to check out the other participants as well :)

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#113 and #114 New recipes going bento

Lately the bento had all been a bit of the same but in the past week I launched some new recipes in the mix.

Zeronic's bento has the endive noodles that we tried last week, which were a bit too gingery for me but he liked them. Zeronic did say that the next day the ginger was overwhelming even for him, so recipe needs tweaking. Other than that he has apple wedges, a broccoli muffin and laughing cow cheese.

My bento has gnocchi in courgette sauce, which was most excellent cold. So I will surely take gnocchi with me more often! In the star cup there is a homemade bean pate which was very good! I also have a broccoli muffin, cucumber for dipping and a laughing cow cheese. Not on the picture is some Turkish bread I took to go with my pate.

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Meatless Monday on Tuesday: Pumpkin Risotto

I already tried to make this risotto two weeks back, but stupid me let the risotto burn the last time because I was too tired to pay enough attention. But because this recipe came so highly recommended to me by some girls from the kookgrrls mailing list, I just had to try again. Glad I did too because this risotto was nice and creamy! It is a good way to clear out some leftover pumpkin. The original recipe in Dutch can be found at the kookgrrls site. My slightly adapted version is below.

Pumpkin Risotto (serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side)
- 200gr pumpkin, seeded and peeled
- 1 spring onion, chopped
- olive oil
- 200gr risotto rice
- 500ml vegetable broth
- tomato puree
- some grated cheese

Heat some olive oil in a cooking pan and bake the onion and pumpkin cubes shortly. Add the risotto rice,  and tomato puree and stir well. I made this risotto the lazy way by just adding all the broth at once and let it cook on low heat for about 20 minutes while stirring regularly but not constantly. I did stay in the kitchen through the process though because as I learned the hard way: never leave risotto alone!

This post is part of Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays.
MMMM is a weekly carnival dedicated to those interested in improving their personal health and the health of the planet by reducing meat consumption one day a week. Every Monday you have a chance to feature a link to something meatless. It doesn’t have to be a recipe {although that would be nice}, it can be a picture of a meatless meal you ate that week, an interesting article you read about meat consumption, a post on your blog about going meatless, perhaps a post on someone else’s blog you found helpful, anything Meatless Monday appropriate.

Also part of Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory.

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Snack Review: Double Pretz Matcha Vanilla

Glico is most famous for their pocky sticks. But next to this line of sweet sticks, they also have a savory line that is called Pretz. Tofu Cute had some new flavors in stock so I picked one out to try and review.

For the people who don't know it, matcha means green tea. So it is basically green tea and vanilla flavor. This might seem kind of weird, but in Japan matcha is commonly used as a flavor for snacks and it is very popular. So what did I think myself? Well to me it certainly is weird to eat anything with tea flavor. I think it does taste a bit like when you accidental have some tea leaves in your cup while drinking and it is not something I am that fond of. That being said, if did have a certain depth in flavors. One bite would taste like that weird tea powder, but then it is followed by that sweetness of the vanilla. It did gave me a dry feeling in my mouth though and have a bit of an after taste. They aren't really bad, but I am a bit indifferent about them. If you are a huge green tea fan, you can buy this snack for 1.70 pounds on Tofu Cute.

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Vitatas #9 for Weekend Cooking

Normally I post my organic vegetable bag on Fridays. But I was extremely busy yesterday so I thought it would be nice to share my bag of fresh produce for Weekend Cooking! Together with my veggie bag, I always post a weekly menu with it. It is for inspiration for my readers to see what good vegetarian and vegan meals you can make. But also for myself, because it is easy for me to have it posted so I can look back during the week.

This is a normal organic produce bag for 2 persons. I often have and extra large bag, but I also have veggies from last week in the fridge. So I change which bag I choose depending on how much I need. In this bag there is a broccoli, a large crop of endive, red cabbage, parsnip and a bulb of fennel. In the fridge I also have, half a butternut pumpkin, a courgette, more fennel, mushrooms, leek and a large carrot.

The weekly menu for week 50-51 will be:
Friday: Baked endive mashpot. (recipe here)
Saturday: Going out for sushi on a friends b-day.
Sunday: Stir fried endive with noodles (recipe came with the bag, will blog it if it is good!)

Monday: Risotto with butternut squash (recipe here)
Tuesday: Gnocchi with courgette sauce (Made this last week and it was such a hit, that we will make again! Recipe here)
Wednesday: Turkish bread with homemade mushroom ragout (recipe here)
Thursday: Undecided, I have a few options open: cream of broccoli soup or carrot-fennel soup. Not sure yet!
Bento/lunch: Home made bean pate on bread.

I opted for an easy menu this week with dishes that take 30 minutes to prepare max. Still I have some new recipes on there. I wanted to make mushroom ragout and bean pate for a long time now and the butternut risotto I just wanted to try again, because I burned it last time because I was too tired to cook... So... take 2 on that one!

Do you plan your menus out in advance?

This post is part of Weekend Cooking! Please hop over to check out the other participants :)

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#110 #111 and #112 Bento from the past week.

In the past week I made three bento. One for myself and two for Zeronic.

This bento has rice & veggies with chimichurri sauce, two broccoli muffins and a wedge of laughing cow cheese. There are also some cherry tomatoes hidden next the the wedge. I took this bento to school with me, but made it the night before so the picture is taking with evening light :S

In this bento for Zeronic are 6 falafel balls, a wedge of laughing cow cheese, a pumpkin-apple muffin and little bites filled with shiitake and bok choy. Because we had lettuce in the veggie bag, I was able to use that as separator. I used to buy lettuce just for that purpose, but I decided not to so that anymore and just use lettuce if I happen to have it. Even though it makes the look of a bento much more appealing. 

In the last bento I made, also for Zeronic, there is another pumpkin-apple muffin and apple slices. In the other tier there is a white bean burger, rice and more beans.

I noticed that I really find it handy to have things like muffins and burgers in stock for a bento. I am also looking for easy and cheap snack ball recipes :) Making them yourself is much more healthy and they are perfect for bento. So all vegetarian suggestions are welcome :) 

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Meatless Monday on Tuesday: Gnocchi

I was always curious about gnocchi and I finally tried them because I saw a very easy and delicious recipe on Kookblog Rozemarijn. The recipe that she made is a bit too spicy for me with all the peppers but I adapted it and both Zeronic and I thought this recipe is a keeper! Zeronic actually labelled this as the BEST recipe EVER! ;) For the original recipe please go to Kookblog Rozemarijn (in Dutch). My adapted version is below.

Gnocchi with courgette sauce (serves 3 as a main)
- 400 gr gnocchi
- 1 courgette, grated
- about 60 ml creme fraiche, but you can use more to taste
- 4 sundried tomatoes, cut
- 125 gr mushrooms
- 1 spring onion, chopped finely
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
- 1 tsp red chili paste (sambal oelek)
- olive oil

Boil the water for the gnocchi. Heat some oil in the pan and fry the spring onion and the garlic in it. Add the mushrooms and fry a bit longer until they start to brown. Then add the grated courgette together with the red chili paste and bake it for about 5 minutes until it has lost most of it's moist. Lastly add the creme fraiche and sundried tomatoes. Taste how much creme fraiche you want to add the balance out the spicy taste from the red chili paste. Add more for a less spicy taste and just the 60 ml if you like your dish more spicy. Cook the gnocchi in a few minutes and drain them. Mix them with the sauce. You can add some salt and pepper to taste, but I didn't think it needed more. Serve with a salad on the side and optionally grate some cheese on top.

This post is part of Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays.
MMMM is a weekly carnival dedicated to those interested in improving their personal health and the health of the planet by reducing meat consumption one day a week. Every Monday you have a chance to feature a link to something meatless. It doesn’t have to be a recipe {although that would be nice}, it can be a picture of a meatless meal you ate that week, an interesting article you read about meat consumption, a post on your blog about going meatless, perhaps a post on someone else’s blog you found helpful, anything Meatless Monday appropriate.

Also part of Meatless Mondays at My Sweet and Savory.

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Snack Review: Hello Panda Creamy Milk

Today I review the last flavor in the Hello Panda series that I bought on Tofu Cute. They are filled biscuits from Meiji with a cute panda picture on them.

When I opened the package, the biscuit gave off a sweet smell. I didn't really think that they tasted like milk but I did like the sweetness of this snack. The cookie and the filling are nicely balanced and that make these cookies a tasty treat. There wasn't that much filling in the biscuits but flavor wise I didn't really notice that. I will buy these again especially because they are not that expensive. I paid 1.20 pounds for them.

Please go to the snack review page to read what I thought about the other Hello Panda flavors.

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Recipe: Carrot Lasagne

I had a lot of carrot to finish and because I didn't really eat carrot before I had the weekly vegetable bag, I am trying all kinds of new ways to prepare them. This carrot lasagne is not the most healthy thing there is because of the cheese sauce, but it was really good! The carrot gives it some sweetness that I never had in lasagne before.

Carrot Lasagne (serves 4)
- 50gr butter
- 60gr flour
- 750ml milk
- 150ml creme fraiche
- 100gr cheese, grated
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp pesto (I used pesto rosso)
- 500gr carrots, grated (I just toss them in the kitchen machine)
- 250gr lasagne
- some pepper
- bit of olive oil

Heat he butter in a large pan. Add the flour on low heat and stir until the mixture is light golden. Don't worry about lumps. Mix milk, creme fraiche and some pepper and add that to the pan. Bring it to a boil while stirring, in about 5 minutes. Place the lid on the pan and let it boil shortly until the sauce thickens. Remove pan from heat, stir in the cheese and let the mixture cool down a bit. Add the eggs slowly while stirring. Set 1/3 of the sauce aside for the top layer. Add the pesto and carrot to the other 2/3 of the sauce and stir well. Pre heat the oven to 150 degrees. Coat the oven dish with some olive oil. Scoop a layer of the carrot mixture in the dish, then some lasagne, 3 layers of each. Top it off with the sauce that you kept separate. Let the dish rest for 15 minutes so the pasta can soften. Place the lasagne in the oven for 40 minutes. After it is done, let it rest for another 15 minutes. The lasagne will be easier to cut that way.

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Weekend Cooking: Jamie's 30-minute Meals

Title: Jamie's 30-minute Meals
Author: Jamie Oliver
Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd
Release date: September, 2010
Length: 288 pages

Summary:
From Goodreads:
"In his new book, "Jamie's 30-Minute Meals", Jamie proves that, by mastering a few tricks and being organized and focused in the kitchen, it is absolutely possible, and easy, to get a complete meal on the table in the same amount of time you'd normally spend making one dish! The 50 brand-new meal ideas in this book are exciting, varied and seasonal. They include main course recipes with side dishes as well as puddings and drinks, and are all meals you'll be proud to serve your family and friends. Jamie has written the recipes in a way that will help you make the most of every single minute in the kitchen. This book is as practical as it is beautiful, showing that with a bit of preparation, the right equipment and some organization, hearty, delicious, quick meals are less than half an hour away. You'll be amazed by what you're able to achieve."

Personal opinion:
I have been watching some TV shows of Jamie Oliver lately and that is what inspired me to borrow one of his books at the library. While the book isn't vegetarian only, I love the fact that Jamie does pay attention to pure and organic products and that he is also very respectful about the origins of the meat he gets. In the register the recipes suitable for vegetarians are marked with a V, so they are easy to find and there are quite a lot of them. The downside is, that while Jamie uses plenty of veggies and vegetarian elements, very few total menu's were vegetarian. So to me it did came down to cook separate dishes even though that is not what the book aims at. On the other hand, this didn't really bother me because it turned out that I was quite intimidated by this concept anyway. To me it just seems impossible to put such menus on the table in just 30 minutes unless you have very fast knife skills and can multi-task easily. That are both qualities that I don't have ;) That and only having a 2 pitted stove, didn't make this concept work for me. However the separate dishes are still very inspirational and it is a joy to see what Jamie does with veggies in terms of flavor. It are very simple things to incorporate. I will surely pick up more cookbooks from Jamie.

Purchase links: Amazon

As I stated above I have made separate dishes from this book instead of whole menus. I am going to share Jamie's Sweet Chili Rice recipe here. I think it is an awesome recipe to give flavor to your rice.

Sweet Chili Rice (side dish - serves 4)
- 1 large mug basmati rice
- 2 spring onions
- 3 eggs
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 lemon (I used 1/2 lime because I had one at hand)
- fresh coriander
- Sweet chili sauce
- bit of olive oil
- pepper

Slice the spring onions in small pieces. Scoop the mug full of rice in a pan together with 2 mugs full of boiling water (use the same mug) and let it cook for 7 minutes with the lid on. Add spring onions in a bowl together with the eggs, sesame oil, soy sauce and a bit of olive oil, mix well. Remove the lid from the pan and add the mixture to the rice, stir it in. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over it and add some pepper. Place the lid back on the pan, and leave with for 5 minutes on low heat. When done, add the chili sauce royally and top it with fresh coriander.

I used the rice cooker with the same amount of rice-water. This works perfectly, only you need to add in the other ingredients together with the rice from the beginning. Stir it trough and stir again at the end. Then add the chili sauce and coriander as above.

Jamie made a menu with the rice, bok choy, broccoli and asparagus in soy sauce and lime, scallops and brownies for dessert all in 30 minutes. I served the rice with stir fried mushrooms and veggies in soy sauce and lime.

Don't forget to check out the other participants of Weekend Cooking. Who knows where your next food inspiration will come from?

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Vitatas #8

I got a beautiful vegetable bag again. Only what to do with all those beets?! I still have a batch of pre cooked ones in my fridge as well. But this week we will have beets on the menu!

In the bag there are: lettuce, celery, bok choy, white cabbage, beets, a muddy carrot and 2 courgettes. In my stash I still have leek, sweet potato, cooked beets and some broccoli.

The menu for week 49/50 will be:
Friday: Oven fries with a salad. (Really low on energy today, so I will keep it simple)
Saturday: Noodle Soup with bok choy (recipe here)

Sunday: Gnocchi with a sauce from courgette and sundried tomatoes. Inspired by Rozemarijn. (recipe here)
Monday: Baked potatoes and coleslaw in a pesto mayonnaise and a burger or other kind of meat replacement.
Tuesday: A Pataks curry with sweet potatoes.
Wednesday: Broccoli-Leek mini quiches.
Thursday: Spiced up beets in coconut milk.
Lunch: French toast and maybe Turkish bread with hummus.

If you are curious about the previous weekly menus, please check them out on my weekly menu page. As always, I try to update the menus with pictures and recipes during the week.

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Recipe: Samosas

I have had a lot of carrots in my vegetable bags lately. I was never too fond of carrots but I found out that this was mainly because in my youth they got either served with peas and potatoes or in a mashpot and I just didn't like that too much. But now I have tried some creative dishes with carrots, I do like them more. I used them in samosas for example, dough filled with whatever you like basically. There are so many variations on the filling for samosas but here is mine:

Samosas (makes 8)
- 200gr potatoes
- 200gr carrots
- 500 ml herbal broth
- 2 tbsp of wok oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 spring onion
- 2 handfuls of peas
- garam masala
- salt and pepper
- 8 sheets of puff pastry or your own dough

Peel and cube the potatoes. Cook them in the herbal broth. Drain the potatoes but don't rinse them. Defrost your puff pastry. Cut the carrots into large pieces and toss them in a kitchen machine together with the garlic and spring onion. Stir fry this mixture shortly in the oil. Then add the poatatoes, peas, garam masala and a bit of salt and pepper. Fill the puff pastry with about 2 tbsp of the mixture. I always make these little packages so they are filled up nicely. I just spoon the mixture in the middle and get all for corners together in the middle and then press the edges together with my fingers so that they are closed. Place them in a pre-heated oven on 170 degrees for about 20 minutes. I served them with a cucumber-yoghurt dip. The recipe is vegan if you make your own dough or look carefully what sheets of pastry you buy. Serve them with sweet-chili sauce instead of the cucumber-yoghurt dip.

You can also make mini samosas by cutting each puff pastry sheet in four squares and fill them with a teaspoon each before you fold them the same way as the big ones. Great as a healthy party snack! 

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Snack Review: Pepero Almond

In the world of Japanese stick snacks, pocky is the most popular brand. In the Dutch anime scene all other stick snacks are often seen as fake copies of lesser quality. People often go as far that they won't even buy the snacks unless it is pocky and are very brand sensitive. Now the question is, is this a justified conclusion? Or are these just as good or even better than the world famous pocky?

Pepero is a product of Lotte, who are more famous for their koala cookies. They are indeed inspired by Pocky and even have their own day. On 11-11 students exchange boxes of pepero to wish eachother to grow as tall and slender as a pepero stick.

I got this box from a friend of mine, so I don't have the exact price information this time (and no not on 11-11 ;) ). The box contains 36gr of pepero sticks. What is different for pocky is that the layer of chocolate seems much thicker on pepero sticks, this also goes for the biscuit sticks. There are also plenty of almonds in the coating. The quality of the chocolate is still mediocre compared to Dutch chocolate but about the same quality as pocky. I really loved this combination and the whole box was gone before I knew it! But with only 36 grams in a box the damage isn't too great. I will buy these myself for sure if I encounter them! They are a great snack to munch on! My verdict is that these are just as great as pocky and I would encourage people to set their brand issues aside because you are missing out!

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Recipe: Sunchoke Soup

I wanted to post this recipe because Heather of Books and Quilts is hunting soup recipes for her father. Sadly her father has some health problems and therefore isn't allowed anymore to eat canned soups. So now Heather is collecting recipes to add in a binder to gift her parents so that they can make their own fresh soups. I already mailed her a few of the recipes I have on the blog but it happened that I made this great tasting sunchoke soup the other day and now would be the perfect time to share :) Please, if you have any tasty soups to share hop over to Heather's blog, it would be a great help!

Sunchoke and potato soup
- 500gr sunchokes, peeled and cubed
- 250gr potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 200gr hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
- 150gr mascarpone
- 1 litre vegetable broth
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 spring onion, chopped
- a handful of fresh thyme
- some butter

Melt some butter in the pan and bake the onion, garlic, potatoes, sunchokes and thyme shortly. Add the vegetable stock and bring it to a boil. Leave the soup simmer for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes and sunchokes are soft. Purée the soup with a handheld mixer and add some marscarpone to it. I find this a very tasty and creamy soup which doesn't need additional salt if you already have added some to your broth.

The post is part of Weekend Cooking. Please make sure to check out the other posts. There is a lot of good food related content submitted every week!

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Weekend Cooking: Cooking without using mixes

This week there is a movement going on in the Netherlands about cooking without store bought mixes. This is started by Koken met Karin. She also has a cookbook on the subject. Why would you want to cook without using those store bought mixes? Well they often contain much more salt than is good for you. And then there are all kinds of other unhealthy things they slip in there. So it is worth to make the extra effort to make certain things yourself. A lot of people think that it is much more time consuming to cook yourself, but this is not always the case. Today I share with you an easy and fresh cucumber dipping sauce that you can eat with all kinds of snacks. I served it with samosas, for example.

The Black Pete is a part of Sinterklaas, a tradition in Dutch culture.
He is juggling some pre-bought mixes here. 

Cucumber Dipping Sauce
- 125ml yoghurt
- 1/4 cucumber, grated
- 1tsp ginger, grated
- some pepper and salt to taste
- juice of half a lime
- pinch of cumin

To make this very tasty dipping sauce, just mix all these ingredients together. That's it! It is just as easy as whipping up mix from a bag with some yoghurt :) I served them with Samosas I made but it will also taste great with these Spanakopita Triangles

To help you further on the way, I will link to some relevant recipes I posted earlier:
Creamy Mushroom Soup
Homemade Peanut Sauce
Quick Tomato Sauce

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Please make sure that you check out the other participants! (Please note that I don't have a working internet connection at home atm. I will try to see if I can visit the blogs from my phone, but I probably won't be able to comment. I will also try to link back when the Weekend Cooking Post is up! But I am borrowing a very slow network from the neighbours now, so sadly I can't make any promises. But because of the occasion, I really wanted to blog this!)

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Vitatas #7

Menu planning was another challenge this week. I mean, I have 4 leeks! And they aren't planned in yet ;) I have several leek recipes but I will wait until Zeronic is home so he can have a say too on which one it will be :) To add to this mix: I have also 2 courgettes and a butternut pumpkin left. I also bought cherry tomatoes :)

The Weekly menu for week 48/49 will be:
Friday: Pumpkin Risotto with grilled courgette and oven roasted cherry tomatoes.

Saturday: Onigiri with Sweet Potato filling (recipe here)
Sunday: Turkish Bread with Pizza topping from homemade tomato sauce, courgette, eggplant and cherry tomatoes with some cheese. (Sharing with friends)

Monday and Tuesday: Lasagne with carrots and pesto, a recipe that Zeronic wanted to try. (recipe here)
Wednesday: Fennel Soup
Thursday: Creamy Leek and Spinach with pasta
Bento: Broccoli Muffins (recipe here)

If you are curious what menus I have created in previous weeks, please go to the weekly menu page. 

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Recipe: Fennel Beans

I got about three bulbs of fennel in one of my vegetable bags a few weeks back. Fennel was this kind of veggie what I had no idea what to do with it. Luckily the Puur Plantaardig (Purely Plant based) Cookbook had a solution for me. (click on the title for the review) Because this recipe is so simple and tasty I will share my adapted version of the recipe with you.

Fennel Beans: (serves 3 as a side dish)
- 250gr green beans
- 1 spring onion
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp Italian spices
- 1/2 bulb of fennel
- 200 gr white beans
- salt

Cook the green beans for about 15 minutes in some water. Cut the spring onion and the fennel. Heat some oil in a frying pan and add onion with the sugar and Italian spices and bake it shortly on low heat. Then add the fennel and bake it some more. Place the lid on the pan and let it simmer for 2 more minutes or so. Add the white beans and let it simmer for a short while. Drain and rinse the green beans and add them with the fennel mixture. Lastly add a bit of salt.

The original recipe had raisins as well. because both Zeronic and myself aren't a big fan of raisins, we left them out. If you want to add them do so when you add the white beans. I served this on top of some pasta in pesto (also in the book). And it was a very tasty combination.

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