Spanish White Beans with Spinach

The past two months — as evidenced by the lapse in time between my previous post and this one — have been chock full of major milestones for B, little miss A, and me. We finally finished the house that we had been building for the past year-and-a-half (!), and got through the process of packing, moving, and unpacking (WITH a six month old in tow). Still unpacking, in fact, but I’ve accepted the possibility that we may just be gradually doing that for some time to come. Equally exciting to me is the fact that Little A has started solid foods! She’s a champion eater already (taking after her Mom), inhaling fruits and vegetables that I cook and puree for her, and scarfing down yogurt like she’s afraid there will be a shortage. That’s my girl.

All these major life events have been taking up so much of my mental space, I’m afraid, that posting here has been sparse…but now that we’re settling into our house and I’m able to take a breath again, I promise I’ll be back on a more regular basis. And in the meantime, I wanted to share with you the dish that I’ve made over and over and over in the past 6 months…every time I make it, I’m amazed at how delicious something with so few ingredients can be. Add to that the fact that it’s a nutritious meal that takes all of 15-20 minutes to cook, start to finish, and it’s a winner by me.

It’s a perfect example of a dish in which the sum is more than the individual parts. Garlic, onions and sundried tomatoes are cooked down in olive oil with smoky Spanish paprika; a whole mess of white beans join the party and get coated in the slick of smoky, garlicky goodness; finally, more spinach than you think can possibly fit into your pot joins the fun and wilts down. The resulting dish is fantastic served out of a bowl with a slice of toasted bread to soak up all the delicious juices…and would be equally great as a bruschetta topping, I think.

We’re getting spinach in our CSA share, though it won’t last much longer now that warmer days are starting to arrive…but I already know I’ll be making this over the summer too, with whatever greens we have on hand.

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Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients

1 large onion, coarsely chopped (2 cups)
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
2 (19-ounces cans) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup water
2 pounds spinach, tough stems removed

Directions

In a large pot, saute the onions and sundried tomatoes in 1/4 cup olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper until the onions are cooked down and brown. Add the garlic and smoked paprika and cook for another minute or so.

Stir in the beans, water, spinach and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted – about 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with a slice of toasted bread and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 6.

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