Tuscan Beans with Kale and Frozen Peas Come to Life: A penny-pinchers delight

In Tuscany they have a secret ingredient that makes their bean and vegetable-based dishes delicious. My dad was born and raised in Tuscany, and did a lot of the cooking when I was growing up. I would find little bits of this food in my pasta sauce and wonder what the heck it was. This ingredient is not a politically or nutritionally correct food according to most people. But if you are a gluten-free person who wants to eat whole foods and stretch your food budget in these economically challenged times, this secret ingredient is your friend. This secret ingredient is salt pork. Salt pork makes home-cooked beans and even frozen peas come alive. You want to try and buy organic salt pork (often found at Whole Foods Market) as non-organic salt pork contains carcinogenic nitrates. You can always substitute organic ham or bacon if you can’t find organic salt pork. Here are two recent ways I have used this ingredient to make very inexpensive recipes.

Tuscan Beans with Kale

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce of organic salt pork, cubed into #1/8″ (teeny little) pieces
• 1 lb of dried pinto beans, soaked over night in water and then cooked 90 minutes until tender
• 1 head of kale, de-stemmed and coarse-chopped
• 1 small bunch fresh sage, minced or 1t dried sage
• 1-2 cups of water
• sprinkle of garlic and onion powder

Method:

1. Sautee salt pork  for 1-2 minutes in a soup-pot on medium-high heat until
2. Add the beans, garlic powder, onion powder, sage and 1 cup of water to the pot. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Check and see if the water has been absorbed, add more water if needed, add kale, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over cooked brown rice or quinoa for a complete meal.

Tuscan Peas

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce organic pork salt, cubed into 1/8″ (teeny) pieces
• 1 lb frozen green peas, thawed
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1-2T water
• pinch of garlic and onion powder

Method:

1. Sautee pork on medium high until cooked through in a medium saucepot.
2. While pork is cooking whisk together 1T of water with the tomato paste, garlic, and onion powder using a fork of small egg whisk. When pork is done cooking add the tomato paste mixture to the saucepot, stir slowly for 5 minutes on medium-heat. Add the extra Tablespoon of water if mixture gets too thick.
3. Add the peas, stir gently to mix, cover and let simmer on low for 8 minutes until peas are heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste, serve over brown rice or quinoa.