White Bean Mash - So Many Possibilities

I'll try to keep it brief today, guys.  I've been a little loquacious recently (or as a pre-bat-crap-crazy Lindsay Lohan memorably said in the movie Mean Girls, prone to "word vomit").  But really,  what can I say about beans that hasn't already been said before?  High fiber, protein rich, magic bullets of complex carbohydrates. I don't think you can be a successful veggie if you don't at least come to term with beans.  Or - in my case - fall head over heels in food love with them.  Especially yummy, creamy white beans.  Mmmm...

Slightly fuzzy picture - very yummy beans.  It's a trade-off.

I completely stole this white bean mash from Nigella Lawson.  I remember seeing her make it as a side for a minute steak on her Nigella Express series back in my pre-veg days.  I thought "That might be good," and promptly forgot the mash ever existed until a few days ago.  The good thing about forgetting something for over three years is that you only have the barest idea of how it was actually made - it's terrifying and freeing at the same time.  I know it involved sage leaves, olive oil, and white beans.  So I went from there.

 My mash is Dr. Barnard diet friendly, so there's no oil.  You just simmer half a cup of precooked white beans in half a cup of vegetable broth.  You can throw in any seasoning you like at this point - I used some dried sage, which I crumbled over the pan as it simmered.  When the beans start to really get soft and the broth has cooked down by half, you remove it from the heat, get out your trusty potato masher, and smush away.  If it's too thick to mash properly, or it seems too much like the paste that one weird kid used to eat in preschool, add some more broth.  You want your end product to be thick enough to hold together, but also nice and creamy smooth.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and you're done.

I used this as a combination protein source/bed of carby deliciousness for yesterday's stewed okra and tomatoes.  It soaked up the cooking liquid like a champ - absolutely scrumptious.  I see this standing in for a lot of mashed potatoes in my near future.  Gorgeous stuff.

Although I haven't tried them yet, I think the following variations might be great:

• Thyme or fresh rosemary instead of the sage.
• Sundried tomatoes (the dry packed ones - throw them in during the initial simmer)
• A couple teaspoons of nutritional yeast mashed into the final product.
• Caramelized onions mashed in at the end (Bryanna Clark Grogan has a great looking oil free recipe here).
• If you're not worried about the added fat, a drizzle of olive oil or margarine in the final mash would probably be just the thing. 

This turned out not to be so brief after all.  Oh, well - tomorrow's another day.  And it will be a cheezy, dairy free day at that!  See you then.

Nutrition Information - [The final calorie, carb, and sodium load all depends on the broth you use, of course.  But here's the breakdown for a half cup serving of canned white beans - you can go from here, especially if you use any add-ins.]  Calories 100;  Fat 0 grams; Cholesterol 0 grams; Sodium 270 milligrams; Carbohydrates 18 grams; Fiber 5 grams; Protein 5 grams.