When I come back from the Farmers Market on Saturday morning, Carol usually has cooking shows on the kitchen TV. As I was putting away the market fare, I heard Joanne Weir say, “I can swoon over an artless dish of braised big white beans in garlicky tomato sauce with a scattering of wild arugula.” I made a note of it.

Weeks or months later,*
I happened to have some cooked Rancho Gordo Runner Cannellini beans and some fresh heirloom tomatoes; it was lunchtime and I was hungry. I didn’t have any arugula, but I imagined it. I keep a jar of Mezzetta Express Deli-Sliced Tamed Jalapeno Peppers on hand because they give good jalapeno flavor without the heat (Carol screams bloody murder if there’s heat).

I went to work.

chop some tomatoes

cook beans and stuff

Yum

Fine chop an ounce of bacon
1 small spring onion, chopped, about 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon chopped green garlic
7 slices Mezzetta Express Deli-Sliced Tamed Jalapeno Peppers, chopped
2 cups cooked Runner Cannellini beans and their cooking juices
2 small red tomatoes, peeled, seeded and rough chopped
1 green zebra tomato, peeled, seeded and rough chopped
salt and pepper

Heat a 10 inch skillet over medium heat and add about a teaspoon of olive oil (to get the bacon going) and the chopped bacon. Stir until it has rendered most of its fat, but is not crisp. Add onion, garlic and jalapeno chile and stir until they are soft. Dump in the beans and their juices and cook for about 5 minutes to get the flavors going. Salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the tomatoes and turn off the heat.

Serve.

That is one good lunch in no time flat. Yum.

* I looked it up, made the note in December ’07, made the dish in May ’08 when tomatoes came to the market.