Wednesday, May 2, 2012

They Did the Mash....They Did the White Bean Mash

So I have a few random skills that I am especially proud of while recognizing their limited potential to impress. One such ability is my ability to pack books. Why am I such an expert? Well I love books (see 52 week challenge that I was stupid enough to undertake) and have always had….a couple…..hundred. Add to this the fact that I have moved 3 times in the last 4 years and you’ll see where I got the practice. Packing books is a delicate art. See unlike packing something like dishes which requires the “packer” (sounds dirty) to have some working knowledge of basic physics (notably in the areas of in flight shifting possibilities and potential impact forseeability and preparation) packing books is like a puzzle where by you try to fit as many hard, inflexible rectangular objects (of varying size) into as few small boxes as possible. It seems at times similar to the kinds of tests they give chimps to measure cognition. Well long story short I am an exceptional chimp.
So recently I lended my super chimp box packing skills to my friend Kate, who is moving in a few short weeks. I ended up packing a decent number of boxes…..(Kate claims she was occupied with other things while I packed which is why she didn’t help more then she did but I think this was just a cover so she could stand back in awe) so once I had packed what I thought was an expectable number I decided to sit back and “supervise” while she packed the rest. (I’m such a good friend). While she did that I looked through her magazines and found a recipe in Whole Living that I thought sounded mighty tasty.
White Bean Veggie Mash

I believe the recipe appeared under alternative side dishes for Thanksgiving, but I decided to give it a go despite it being spring. How tasty. It’s as simple as cooking up carrots and celery (the foundations of any stock, stuffing etc) and adding white beans and potatoes. The result is a rather tasty and more rounded tasting mash potato side. The only down side was that the recipe made enough to feed a small army and we have more then enough to “side” three more dinners (the original was served with NY strip). This did lead, however, to an upside: it is the perfect leftover for lunches. I brought it to work with some Trader Joes Soy-catash when I was too lazy to make anything (so basically frozen veggies when in a plastic container with a small container of this on the side) and it was delicious. Healthy and filling.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did the next time your at your friends house stuffing her box….sorry that was wrong…..but it’s Wednesday so it’s staying…sorry