Pressure Cooker Ham Hock & Bean Soup
If you serve ham at the holidays, don’t discard the ham bone — it beautifully flavors beans and soups, and this easy pressure cooker recipe is a great way to take advantage of it. After the craziness of the holiday, you can put the soup on, put your feet up, and get ready for some comfort food.
Ribollita
This year for book club, my choice was The Italian Party, a novel set in 1950s Sienna and “teeming with seduction and spycraft.” My menu was inspired by food from the book and centered on this Ribollita, a stew of kale, tomatoes, and beans, thickened with day-old bread. It’s a recipe and style of cooking thought of as “poor cooking” and making the most of what you have, but it was a beautiful dish to serve to friends with wine, Cacio e Pepe, and delightful discussion of a great story.
Leesa’s Pressure Cooker Charro Beans
A pressure cooker makes this classic Tex-Mex dish of pinto beans stewed with bacon, onion, jalapeño, garlic, and onion easy to serve alongside chicken fajitas.
(If you’re looking for a vegetarian recipe cooked on the stovetop, check out this recipe for vegetarian charro beans.)
Slow Cooker Ham Bone & Beans
Simmer onions, celery, carrots, bay leaves, and a ham bone in broth in the slow cooker for hours.
Slow Cooker White Bean Soup
This soup of garlic, onion, celery, carrots, navy beans, bay leaf, and rosemary makes getting through the winter a little easier.
Broiled Shrimp with Tomatoes & White Beans
Preheat a cast-iron skillet, and then broil a mixture of grape tomatoes, white beans, capers, and garlic. Add the shrimp, and then broil again until they’re cooked through.
Winter Vegetable Chili
This vegetarian chili features carrots, parsnips, beans, chipotle, and canned hominy, which adds such a satisfying texture to the dish. This recipe doubles well.
Crushed White Bean Spread with White Truffle Oil
The truffle oil means you’ll still be thinking about this otherwise humble bean dip long after you’ve licked the bowl clean. This was the perfect dressy appetizer to take to a birthday party for Jamy.
Brian’s Southwestern Soup
Ground beef and pantry staples turn out a fantastic soup in 45 minutes.
Tim’s Vegan Chili
When I worked at the local newspaper, two of my coworkers were vegan. This is Tim’s version of vegan chili, which was always popular at pot lucks.