Cajun White Beans Recipes

Steps:

• Put rinsed beans, in a 4 quart dutch oven and cover beans with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer beans, uncovered for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 - 2 hours. Drain beans and re-rinse.
• Place the beans, water, undrained tomatoes, ham bone, onion, green peppers, celery, garlic and pepper back into same dutch oven. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 3 hours or until beans are tender.
• Remove ham bone, when cool, cut meat from bone and return to soup and heat through. Stir in the hot pepper sauce, taste and season with salt.

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a 12-inch skillet (preferably straight-sided) over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and 1 teaspoon salt, and stir, then cook undisturbed in an even layer until one side is golden, about 4 minutes. (It's great if the butter browns, but decrease the heat if it threatens to get too dark.) Stir in the asparagus, carrot and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the peas, scallions and ½ teaspoon salt, then add the red-pepper flakes, oregano and a generous amount of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the peas are warmed through and bright green, about 2 minutes.
• Add the white beans and the cream, lower the heat to medium, and let the cream come to a simmer. Simmer for about 1 minute.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice, Parmesan and Dijon. Taste and season with more salt, pepper or lemon juice as needed. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of warm water to the creamy beans to loosen as you like; the sauce will thicken as it cools. (You may need more water when you reheat any leftovers.) Serve in bowls topped with the nuts and a handful of basil leaves. Pass more Parmesan at the table.