Marry Me Beans
Oh soooo delicious!
So apparently for years there’s been a recipe floating around the internet for Marry Me Chicken. You can imagine the story, a recipe so good that the cook was able to convince the diner to marry him/her. It reminds my of the recipe for eggplant parmesan that was popular when I was pregnant with Reed, our youngest. The lore was that there was a certain restaurant in Atlanta that served an eggplant parmesan that induced labor. The restaurant was so inundated by pregnant women showing up to order the dish that they finally released the recipe (probably at the advice of their lawyer who didn’t want births taking place in the restaurant kitchen). Ironically, back in June 2005, pregnant me went to an Italian restaurant on Connecticut Avenue in DC with a couple of girlfriends and ordered the eggplant parmesan. My water broke at the restaurant and on the drive home (of course, I was the designated driver) I asked one said friend to meet me at my house in 30 minutes, to spend the night with Mattes and Kyle. Off to the hospital, Gary and I went and Reed was born. Eggplant parmesan is powerful, but I digress!
Back to this recipe for Marry Me Beans which was adapted from Marry Me Chicken. It is so, so good. I used butter beans because I am obsessed but you can use any type of bean, the most popular being chickpeas. I also used coconut milk instead of cream. I was skeptical thinking that the resulting dish may not be thick enough or would have a coconut flavor but neither was the case. The Marry Me Beans were thick, rich and had no coconut accent. I served the beans with flatbread for sopping up the sauce but they can also be served over rice or pasta. The next day I enjoyed the tiny bowl of leftovers just eaten with a spoon. And I’m sorry that I didn’t take the minute to wipe my pan before photographing and serving. Yet again, despite the photo, Enjoy!
Marry Me Beans
Ingredients
- 2 Tbls unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 c vegetable broth
- 2 15-oz cans butter beans, drained
- 1 c chopped fresh spinach
- 1 c heavy cream, half-and-half or coconut milk I used coconut milk
- 1/2 c grated parmesan
- 2 Tbls chopped fresh basil
- flatbread, pita, rice, pasta, for serving optional
Instructions
- Heat butter, garlic, salt, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, smoked paprika, and ground black pepper in a large saute pan or pot over medium heat. Cook for about 2 minutes, until garlic is fragrant.
- Stir in sun-dried tomatoes, vegetable broth, and beans. Continue cooking on medium, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Stir in chopped fresh spinach until wilted, then stir in heavy cream (or half-and-half or coconut milk), grated parmesan, and chopped fresh basil. Serve warm with crusty bread, over rice, or with pasta.
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May 20, 2024 @ 6:24 pm
That looks delicious 😋 💕