This is a seriously delicious and simple recipe that packs a punch in terms of fibre and colourful veggies. My friend Daisy makes this for herself and her family on a regular basis and I added in the chilli, some extra veggies and greens. The beauty of this recipe is that you can use whatever vegetables you have to hand so it’s a great low-waste recipe.
The cornerstone of all longevity diets, beans improve soil fertility and reduce dependence on energy-intensive fertilisers. They really are a magical fruit when it comes to their nutritional properties and can be protective for brain health and warding off Alzheimer’s too. Dan Buettner, National Geographic researcher and author of The Blue Zones, says that beans could offer four years of extra life expectancy if you eat one cup per day.
If you’re using a canned version, please soak them thoroughly. Or you could soak dried beans overnight, rinse and cook them. Keep cooking them until they’re really quite soft. Once you add them to your dish, they will meld perfectly with the flavours.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil or veggie stock if oil-free
- 1 onion
- 1 red chilli
- 1 celery stick
- 2 carrots
- Bunch of spinach or celery leaves
- 1 diced red pepper
- A can of cannellini beans or a similar white bean variety
- 1 veggie stock cube
- 1 tbsp tomato paste/ ketchup
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ⁄2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Bay leaf
- ½ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Finely chop all the veggies into small cubes. Sauté the onion and chilli with the red pepper and carrots in one tablespoon of olive oil (or veggie stock) for a few minutes.
- Add a tin of chopped tomatoes – stir until it reaches a nice medium thick consistency and add a tablespoon of ketchup.
- Add chopped celery and celery leaves (don’t worry if no celery leaves are available- you could use spinach too for greens – add this towards the end to retain nutritional value.
- Cook till the veggies are al dente and add the cannellini beans. Crumble a veggie stock cube into the mix
- Simmer all together for 15 minutes adding some water if it's too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with quinoa for a filing main meal or as a side dish.
