I don’t want to pretend that this is a clever recipe that I slaved over. I had some cooked Christmas Lima beans (can be substitute with Large White Lima, or Scarlet Runner) and I had a jar of artichoke hearts. Ta da. I love artichoke hearts and the ones you find in a jar are perfectly delicious. They have a strong flavor so cooking with them isn’t always easy. I just heated the limas and the artichokes until they were warm and tossed them with chopped fresh parsley. There’s plenty of oil on the artichokes. No need for more, but I won’t judge...

Anissa Helou’s Feast: Foood of the Islamic World (Ecco Press, 2018) is a great book and you should have it in your personal library. It’s big, beautiful and full of recipes that are complicated and exotic along with much simpler fare. The common thread is celebrations. I’ve had the book for a while now and it remains a constant inspiration. The recipes work. I’ve taken a lot of liberties with her Baked Sea Bass with Tomatoes and Olives recipe from Morocco. She calls for a whole sea bass but my market had fillets of halibut. The all green olives were...

I hadn’t cooked Buckeye (aka Yellow Indian Woman) beans for quite awhile. They’re small and dense but somehow creamy at the same time. I think they’d be great in a chili but as usual, a simple bowl with little garnish is my preferred way to enjoy them. Macerated shallots are my current obsession: a sweet little bite that adds acid, texture and flavor. It’s not as harsh as a plain onion would be. For this meal, the Buckeye (Yellow Indian Woman) beans met with the shallots and a few crumbles of goat cheese. As the whole mess settles and melts you...

I somehow landed a copy of Omar Allibhoy’s Spanish Made Simple and while I wasn’t expecting much, several of the recipes have become favorites. It’s good! It isn’t a definitive guide to the Spanish kitchen by any means, but there’s fine inspiration for home cooks and dishes you don’t see all the time. The Coliflor con Ajos Vinagre y Alcaparras recipe has been served at my place several times and of course I feel compelled to improvise. I roasted the cauliflower instead of boiling it and what’s a good dish without beans? The addition of cooked white beans makes this...

Escarole is a rare and exotic vegetable for me. I'd been scared off with stories about its bitterness and frankly, there were plenty of other things to eat that struck me as more appealing. My greengrocer had it, I bought and now I had to use it. It looks like a head of butter lettuce and it is, as promised, somewhat bitter. On its own, it's unappealing but wilted by tossing in warm pasta, it's just great. You can go heavier on the beans if you like. For me, this is a pasta dish with beans and escarole. Ingredients 2...

One of my favorite books from the last years has been The Blue Zones (National Geographic, 2008) by Dan Buettner. Statistics for longevity are examined and there are some not so surprising conclusions reached, my favorite being that those of us lucky enough to make it to the old folks stage tend to eat beans. The Greek Island of Ikaria is mentioned a lot and it’s referred to as the place where people forget to die. Citizens work, garden, eat whole foods, little meat and of course eat beans (and drink wine.) Works for me. Diane Kochilas’ book on the...