Maybe you cook beans or lentils on New Year's for good luck. Maybe you have a great baked beans dish that the world doesn't yet know about. Or maybe you've been hooked on braised white beans Provencal-style. We're ready for any great bean dish -- and we're hungry!
These are not your usual contests. We have a slightly nutty system but it works. Together, the Food52 community has created two cookbooks this way -- there’s no stopping us now. Read about it
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Double-checking the recipe. At first glance, it seems long and complicated, but it's actually quite straightforward.
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AntoniaJames calls for green French (or Puy) lentils, which are tiny and darker green than regular green lentils. We only had the latter, but our soup turned out just fine.
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Amanda smiles at the thought of lentil soup with sausages for lunch.
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The sausages nestle happily in the pan. You cook them through over low heat before slicing and browning them.
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Rinsing the lentils ensures you get rid of any grit.
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The carrots look almost neon orange in this picture.
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And the spinach looks ultra green. The fresh vegetables add vibrancy to the soup and keep it from being heavy.
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The sausage is nice and browned.
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Onions, garlic, red wine and bay leaves make up the fragrant base.
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The spinach is the last thing to go in -- you should serve the soup as soon as possible so you don't sacrifice the lovely green color.
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Marie Viljoen starts off her beans with lots of scallions.
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Amanda shows off her new Japanese knife, a great Christmas present from her brother-in-law Scott!
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The knife's first victims: scallion roots.
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And Merrill shows off her engagement ring -- woo-hoo! Oh, and she cuts the pancetta into "rashers" which we determined to mean thin little strips of pancetta.
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See....
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Still cutting scallions.
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Interestingly, the parsley goes in the pan early.
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Anchos, awaiting their hot water bath.
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After the scallions and pancetta are cooked, we added the red kidney beans, broth, anchos and parsley.
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And then let them simmer away.
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When the beans were almost tender, we poured in some red wine vinegar and red wine and let them finish up the cooking.
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