Cooking on a Budget: Turkish White Bean Stew

This is another dish I wrote about back when this was a knitting blog. It didn't seem like much when I first tasted it, but by the next day the flavors had integrated and it was full of flavor. I made it once or twice more, then forgot about it.

It was one of the first recipes I thought of when I thought about cooking more economically. It uses a surprisingly small amount of ingredients and practically cooks itself. And the lemon and cayenne play beautifully against each other, highlighting the carrots, celery, and onion. The ingredients really shine in this dish.

Oh yes, and the beans are quite good, too.

The original recipe called for 10 cups of water, which made this seem more like a soup than a stew for me. Only adding 8 cups gives it more the texture of the stew that it calls itself. It also calls for 1/2 cup of chopped parsley to be added at the end. Since I forgot to add it the first time, I like it just fine without, but if you want a little extra color/flavor at the end, you can add it back in.

Total Cost: $6.36
Cost per Serving: $0.80

Home Cookin Chapter: Soups and Stews

TURKISH WHITE BEAN STEW

Makes 8 Servings

1 lb. dried white navy beans, soaked overnight
8 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
2 large carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup tomato paste (or 1 6-oz. can)
1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cayenne
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup parsley (optional)

In Dutch oven, combine beans with water. Bring to a boil, lower, simmer, cover, and cook one hour.

In saute pan, heat olive oil and saute onions, celery, and carrots until they begin to color. Add to beans, along with garlic, tomato paste, lemon juice, sugar, and cayenne. Season to taste with salt.

Continue simmering for another hour, covered, until very tender.

Just before serving, stir in the chopped parsley. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Adapted from The Bean Book, by Roy F. Guste, Jr. (W. W. Norton, 2001).

Exported from Home Cookin 5.7 (www.mountain-software.com)