The Suburban Herbivore

White Bean and Root Vegetable Gratin

I know this is going to make it sound like I never cook, but I prepared a very tasty gratin way back on May 17. Yes, this is another catch-up post. (As opposed to a ketchup post.) (Sorry… I think I’m hilarious, but my husband tells me that I’m really not.) Based off a method in Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, the gratin turned out wonderfully, and is a great way to utilize those random root vegetables you may have lying around. It calls for Parmesan cheese on top, but is vegan without that.

Sauteed Greens

I also sauteed the radish, kohlrabi, and turnip greens and swiss chard that I’d been accumulating. This was a wonderful accompaniment to the gratin. The photo makes it look like I’m stir-frying a salad, though.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1.5 lbs root vegetables (I used turnips and kohlrabi)
1 onion
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped finely (depending on how much you like)
3 cans white beans
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp rosemary
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel and chop the root vegetables and onion. Heat most of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the vegetables until they begin getting soft. During this time, you can drain and rinse the beans, but reserve about half a cup of bean liquid. Also prepare a shallow casserole pan by rubbing it with a towel (paper or otherwise) dipped in olive oil.

White Bean and Root Vegetable Gratin, plus sauteed greens and bread.

Add a little salt and pepper, plus the onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is soft. Turn down the heat if necessary to keep the vegetables from browning too much. Once done, remove from heat and add the rosemary and the beans. You can add some or all of the reserved bean liquid at this point if the vegetables are too dry. It should be stew-like. Add more salt and/or pepper if needed.

Pour the mixture into the casserole pan, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for at least 40 minutes, and then until the edges and top are browned and the sauce is bubbling.

More greens this week, and some left over from last week. I’ve got to get a jump on that, because the beets will start soon, and then I’ll be completely overrun with greens. Fortunately, they cook down quite a lot, so you can have a giant mess of greens that reduces to a relatively small mess of greens.

Full share from May 13, 2009

This week’s haul: two pints of strawberries, two heads of lettuce, one bunch of scallions, one bunch of baby turnips, one bunch of dill, one bunch of Swiss chard, and the magical, once-a-year kohlrabi. Last year’s kohlrabi, I believe, went into a dish of roasted root vegetables. Let’s see what I can come up with for this year’s…

The produce is beautiful this week! We received swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, beets, broccoli, cabbage, and some lovely strawberries. This year, we are getting a full share and splitting it with friends, so fortunately, they took the cabbage and I am not on the hook for figuring out what to do with it. Generally, a half share is suggested to be a good amount for one to two people, and I’d say that’s right on. I think I’d have to quit my job if I was going to cook everything in a full share myself.

But I feel like things have not been going well here. I still have a entire head of lettuce and all the spinach (one pound) from last week. Plus the beets, radishes, and turnips, but I’m not as concerned about those. Perhaps if I eat salad for lunch and supper today, that will make a sufficient dent in the lettuce, and I might try steaming and freezing the spinach. At least last week’s spinach…