White Beans and Tomatoes on Toasted Sourdough
Five minutes of work. Six ingredients. Under five dollars for four servings. Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 thick slices crusty sourdough
- 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, one left whole, two thinly sliced
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 1/2 cups cooked
- 1 can diced tomatoes, drained, or 2 cups fresh chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes
- Fresh basil or parsley to finish
Instructions
Toast the sourdough until it is deeply browned and firm. A dry skillet, a grill, or a hot oven all work better than a toaster here, because you want the surface rough.
Cut the whole garlic clove in half and rub the cut side hard across each hot slice. The rough crust acts like sandpaper and the garlic melts into it. Drizzle each slice with olive oil, about a tablespoon total across the four.
Warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and the red pepper flakes and cook just until the garlic turns pale gold, about one minute. Do not let it brown.
Add tomatoes and oregano. Cook five minutes, until the tomatoes break down and the oil turns orange. That color is the point. It means the lycopene has moved into the fat, which is the form your body can actually absorb.
Add the beans and cook three more minutes, mashing about a third of them against the side of the pan so the mixture holds together.
Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon over the toast, finish with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and torn basil.
Notes
Use good olive oil and do not measure it timidly. It is carrying the nutrition here, not just the flavor.
No stove, no problem. Skip the pan entirely. Mash the drained beans with the drained tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, salt, and finely minced garlic in a bowl and pile it onto the bread. This is the version that works in a power outage, and it is genuinely good cold.
Why sourdough. The long fermentation breaks down some of the phytates that bind minerals in wheat, which makes the iron and zinc in the bread more available to you. It also keeps on the counter for days without going stale the way soft bread does.
