"Did I hear a string of curses?"

Kale and zucchini in the pot

That's what the mister asked me the other night.  He was upstairs while I was preparing a meat-free dinner (I was inspired by this recipe posted on Food Inc.'s Facebook page).  We had the ingredients at home and I had the entire recipe all planned out, the greens were cut and washed and the garlic and spices were waiting in the pan.  Heck, I had even hard-boiled, cooled, peeled and sliced the eggs!

The zucchini was cooking and I was just about to add the kale...and then the cursing started.  $^#%@! *^&$#!

Many of the ingredients of this dish are Greek/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern-inspired.  Garlic, cumin, feta, lemon, olive oil...and most importantly, chickpeas (aka: garbanzo beans).  It wasn't until it was time to add the chickpeas did I realize that my cabinet was depleted of garbanzos.

Cannellini beans were a great substitute!

I have the problem of buying extra beans when I'm at the supermarket--I regularly stock up on black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and cannellini (known as a white navy bean or great northern bean).  I usually have 2 - 3 cans of each in the cabinet and then replenish when needed.  For some reason, I have neglected to buy garbanzos in some time and I was completely out. 

I started to think, "what substitute can I use?"  I have only a few items in the cabinet--clearly, I NEED to stock up this weekend--and they consist of pumpkin puree, tomato paste, rice, black beans (they are not a suitable substitute) and one small can of cannellini beans. 

Why not try the cannellini beans? They are not as "sturdy" as garbanzos and work better in soups or broth-based dishes because the cannellini break easily. However, this does have a positive side, as their starches can lend depth to the soups or stews. 

As it turns out, my mistake didn't ruin the dish. I was a bit more delicate in moving the cannellini around the pan, but it had a nice flavor.  I topped the dish with a hard boiled egg, feta cheese, and some lemon olive oil dressing. It was quite enjoyable!  Recipe is below.

Dinner is on the table!

Recipe:

• garlic, shallots, cumin, olive oil
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced, salted and rinsed
• 2 bunches kale, de-stemmed, washed, torn; handful of spinach (optional)
• cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or chickpeas if you want to follow the original recipe)
• crumbled feta cheese
• hard boiled egg (one for each dish)
• dressing:  olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, garlic (mix it to your own desired sweet or tart flavor); I keep my quantities very small and only make about 1/4 - 1/8 of a cup

In a large pan, warm up your garlic, shallots, cumin and olive oil.  Add the zucchini and cook for 3 - 4 minutes, add handfuls of kale--cover to cook, but checking regularly--until wilted and the greens get very bright.  Add the beans, cook covered for a few minutes so the beans get warmed through.  Plate your dinners and top each dish with a scoop of feta cheese and one hard boiled egg.  Top the dish with dressing to taste.