Cretan Bean and Spinach Stew
I’ve really been falling down on the job when it comes to taking picture of the food I make. I made this dish the other day. It’s one of my favorites. I got this recipe from Mediterrasian. There are a lot of great recipes on this site. It’s not geared towards vegetarians, but I still recommend it.
I usually tweak recipes a bit, but I haven’t changed this one at all.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion (If I only have a yellow onion around I’ll use that) finely chopped
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1 zucchini (courgette) thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable stock
- 14 oz can chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup canned lima (butter beans)
- 1 bunch spinach
- 8 Kalamata olives chopped
- salt to taste
- 2 tablspoons fresh flat-leaf parsley
Saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add red pepper, zucchini, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes stirring regularly. Add stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and let simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Stir in spinach, beans and olives and simmer, uncovered, for 10 more minutes. Stir in parsley and 1 tablespoon olive oil remove from heat and serve.
I usually eat this with bulgur wheat. If you have no bulgur wheat on hand, it’s also good with rice or couscous.
Photo by Wolfgang Staudt.
