Navy Bean Gratin

Another recipe from The Hippy Gourmet cookbook this evening. I was leafing through it while doing my weekly meal planning/grocery list. So, two of my meals this week came from there. As I was putting this dish together, I was unsure of the outcome. It just seemed rather bland to me. Navy beans mixed with some sauteed carrots and onion, thyme, salt and pepper. All that topped with some breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese and a bit of olive oil. I have to say I was extremely pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite. Holy smokes! It was just unbelievable. Seriously.

I served the gratin as a main dish, with a side of sliced and sauteed brussel sprouts. I made a little sauce for the brussels using a few TBS of brown sugar, zest from an orange, juice from half of that orange, a splash of water, and salt & pepper. DAMN. They were out-of-control. Sleek and I have both decided we like the sprouts sliced instead of roasted whole (or halved). That's thanks to our friend, olives, who sliced and sauteed them for our Thanksgiving dinner. So, what I was thinking would turn out as a mediocre meal turned out to be fantastic. Definitely one I'll make again. Especially now that I've got plenty of already-cooked navy beans in the freezer!

Now that I think about it, I didn't turn on any music during my time in the kitchen today. Oh well, I couldn't have heard it over the kids playing and carrying on anyway. They get crazy in the afternoon!