Although I was sad to see “summer” go (it was a chilly one), I’m happy about the official arrival of fall because it means the onslaught of hearty comfort foods like this white beans side dish. It’s one of the recipes I come back to again and again. It goes with chicken, pork, or even atop greens for a fall salad.
The combination of white beans and rosemary is classic for a reason. So how do you improve on a good thing? Add oven-roasted cherry tomatoes and bacon. The oven-roasted tomatoes are a treat in their own right and can be served as a stand-alone side dish. If you are short on time, you don’t have to let them cool in the oven. Just go ahead and mix them in with the beans.
Happy fall, or spring, depending on what hemisphere you live in. Enjoy!
White beans with roasted cherry tomatoes and rosemary
Serves 4 as a side dish
For the roasted cherry tomatoes:
4 cups (600g) cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tablespoons oil from sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
3 garlic cloves, slivered
1/4 cup (10g) slivered basil
1 teaspoon salt
pepper
For the beans:
2-14 ounce (390g) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
5 ounces (140g) bacon, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup (28g) sun-dried tomatoes, finely diced
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
Halve the cherry tomatoes and toss them with the slivered garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and oil from the sun-dried tomatoes. Cook at 350°F (180°C) for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let them cool in the oven. Saute the onion and bacon in a large skillet until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the drained cannellini beans, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted tomatoes with their juices, sprinkle with the sugar and combine everything well. Keep warm over low heat. Adjust seasonings as necessary and serve.
semiswede 
OMG! That looks too good to be true! Too bad I have to cut off carbs for a while. But I will definitely try these beans as a treat in a few months, at the heart of winter 🙂
You are a trooper. I don’t think I could cut out carbs. Give them a try when you are back on the carb wagon again. 🙂
Yum… beans… I love beans :D. I also love autumn food – seriously, I can’t wait to cook autumnal food 😀
I suppose it would be even better, and more frugal, if you soaked the beans yourself and cooked them. But at this point in my life, I need shortcuts! I am totally with you on the joy of fall foods. It’s looking forward to them that helps to keep my mind off of the approaching darkness. 😦
Looks good….
This looks so amazing. I’m going to try this in the next week or two.
Great! I’d love to hear if you liked them.
I have a recipe that’s similar from Taste of Home called Chicken Provencale. The bean/tomato mixture looks similar to this one. I love anything with tomatoes!
Ooh that looks good. Definately going to try it while all the tomatoes are on here.
I can only imagine how much better it would be with garden tomatoes. Yum!
That photo makes me want to dive right in – love the colours, love the ingredients! My tum is officially growling…