FOODIE Quickie: Cannellini Beans w/ Kale and Pancetta

 

Hi all!  Happy Weekend!  I thought I'd pop on here real quick and share a quick, healthy, and super delicious side dish with you.  Mark was out of town the last couple weeks so I haven't been doing that much cooking.  I mean, I've been making myself dinner most nights, but it's been things like beans and rice with chicken or a salad with chicken tenders on top.  Nothing really worthy of sharing with anyone.  But now he's back so I can get my cookin' on again.

This is a side dish I threw together a few weeks ago because Mark brought home so beautiful Kale from Whole Foods and it pairs so well with white beans and bacon.  So instead of creating a whole pasta dish, I just put these ingredients together and found that it made a great side dish.  It's healthy too!

 To make this, start by heating a little olive oil up in a pan over medium heat.  Add the pancetta to the pan and saute until the pancetta starts to get crispy.  Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.  Leave about a tablespoon of the pancetta droppings in the pan. 

 Add some chopped white onion and saute for a few minutes until the onions start to look translucent.  Then add some minced garlic and saute for about a minute so you can smell the garlic but you don't end up toasting it.

Next, wash your kale and cut off the ends of the stems.  Cut the kale up into bite size pieces, then throw the kale into the pan with the onions and garlic.  Drizzle a little more olive oil over the top and toss.  The kale will begin to wilt down into the pan.  After a couple minutes, pour in the chicken broth to deglaze whatever wonderfulness is stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Use your wooden spoon to stir everything up and scrape up everything off the bottom of the pan.  Turn the heat down to low and cover the pan to allow the kale to get tender.

While the kale is cooking, drain and rinse the cannellini beans.  After about ten minutes, remove the lid from the pan and add the beans to the kale mixture.  Stir everything together, then hit it with some sea salt and fresh ground pepper.  Oh and some red pepper flakes for a little kick...  this is MY recipe you know.  Gotta have at least a little kick.  This dish is done when the beans are cooked through and start to become creamy.

Transfer the mixture to a serving bowl (we just got these at Costco) and top it with some grated Parmesan cheese.  Done!  Enjoy and I'll be back next week with some more good stuff!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to do a little housework before it's time to head to downtown Cleveland for Brewzilla!  If during my drunken journey I remember to take some good pics, I'll share them with you!