These caramelized leek cannellini beans are a deliciously creamy dish, deglazed with white wine, that will help you incorporate more beans into your diet this year! The blended cashews, cannellini beans and miso give it a rich creaminess, along with leeks, garlic, white wine, spinach and cilantro. It comes together in 30 minutes and is best enjoyed with orzo, toasted bread, or my homemade naan (check out the recipe here!).
Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large leeks
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 can of cannellini beans (also called white kidney beans, 540mL or 19 fl oz)
- Large handful of spinach
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Sauce
- 1/3 cup cannellini beans
- 1/3 cup roasted unsalted cashews (see notes for nut-free)
- 100g silken tofu
- 1 heaping tbsp white miso paste
- 1/2 lemon (about 1 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice)
- 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 3/4 cup water
- Orzo or bread to serve
Equipment
- Frying pan or pot
- Blender
Instructions
- If making orzo or another grain, boil water and cook according to package directions.
- Slice the leeks into 1/4 inch disks, and peel and mince garlic cloves.
- To a frying pan or pot on medium heat, add the olive oil and leeks and stir every couple of minutes, until softened.
- In the meantime, wash and roughly chop spinach and cilantro. Drain and rinse the can of cannellini beans (setting 1/3 cup aside for the sauce).
- After about 10-15 minutes, once they’ve softened down, add the minced garlic and stir. About 2-3 minutes later, add the white wine and continue stirring occasionally.
- To a blender, add 1/3 cup cannellini beans, cashews, silken tofu, miso paste, lemon juice, nutritional yeast and water to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Add beans, spinach, cilantro and the sauce to the pan with the leeks.
- Let simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens.
- Remove from heat then serve with orzo, toasted bread or homemade naan, and enjoy!
Notes
*I love serving this with a batch of homemade naan – check out the recipe here!
*Depending on the strength of your blender, you may need to soak cashews in boiling water before blending. I find the best blender for cashews is a bullet blender!
*For a nut-free version, open another can of cannellini beans and replace 1/3 cup cashews with more beans.
