Wednesday, August 7, 2013

White Beans with Rosemary, Tomato Candy, & Roasted Garlic {A 5:2 Diet Dinner}

I generally cannot stand the idea of diets. There's always something you're supposed to cut out forever and ever. Going Paleo? Buh-bye pasta and grains. Doing the Eat to Live thing? No more steak or cheese for you, and I hope you really - and  I mean really  - love beans.

Sorry, dieters, but a life without cheesy pizza and the occasional burger and fries is not what I would consider truly living.

However. One of my many freelance jobs is recipe development. Sometimes these recipes are incredibly fattening, like the feature I am working on right now involving not one but five baked pasta and cheese dishes. Given that I am no Olympic athlete and I don't believe in wasting food, there is no way I could ever do enough exercise to burn off all those carbs without breaking something.


And so I've been giving the 5:2 Diet a whirl. If you haven't heard of it, it's simply this: for 2 days a week, women restrict their calories to 500/day, men to 600/day. The other five days? You eat whatever you want. What I like about this intermittent fasting is that it doesn't eliminate an entire food group, and you're only counting calories two days a week.

That said, it isn't always easy. Some days I get so hungry I could chew off my arm; other days I cheat and have a glass of wine or whiskey, thus blowing my calories for the day. But I have learned that I am most successful when I plan ahead and make relatively filling and intensely flavorful dishes like this one with white beans, rosemary, tomato candy, and roasted garlic. One cup of beans has about 250 calories, and if you go easy on the olive oil for the tomato candy you can have a fairly filling 5:2 day dinner for around 300 calories. And if it's not a diet day? Eat the whole skillet! This stuff is really good, and would work either as a main course or a side for chicken or fish.

The roasted garlic gives this depth, while the sweet roasted tomatoes - tomato candy - give brightnes.

For the tomato candy:
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
several sprigs fresh rosemary
5 cloves garlic
pinch of salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 whole garlic bulb* (to roast simultaneously)
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Toss everything (except the whole garlic bulb) together and spread on a shallow baking sheet that's been lined with parchment paper. Cut the top off of the garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in foil. Roast everything for 1 hour 45 minutes, shaking the tomato pan once.

When the tomatoes are finished, drain 2 cans of white beans, such as Great Northern. Spray a sautoir with a light cooking spray and cook the beans over medium heat until warm. Squish the roasted garlic into the beans and stir to combine. Carefully fold in the tomato candy and add salt and pepper to taste. 

This truly doesn't taste like a diet dinner!






14 comments:

  1. I don't like the idea of diets...balance is the key.
    This white bean dish does speak to me as I am a huge fan of legumes.

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  2. This looks so delicious! I have been hearing a lot about the 5:2 diet, and understand how it might work. Trick the metabolism. Keep it simple. I might give it a try if I can eat like this!

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  3. I might have to consider two-day fastings now that I read more about how it is even more paleo than "paleo". (Does that make sense?) Tomato candy? Sounds like a drag name. Reminds me of all the fun but healthy things we are calling "candy" to my 2 year old niece who has yet to actually taste processed sugar. I do like beans. White beans especially... and I always have a few cans in the larder to turn into quick impromptu meals like this. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  4. Looks delicious and I'm intrigued to learn about the 5:2 'eating plan'. Similarly, I like carb on/carb off on alternating days -- except my brain tricks me and I generally go for the balanced meal and eat some kind of carbs on the day I'm not supposed to.

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    1. My brain keeps tricking me into thinking that wine is food! oops

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  5. That is my kind of dish. I love beans, and I love the "tomato candy." Viva i mangiafagioli (the beaneaters)!!

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  6. Yes, the more I am supposed to stay away from something, the more that I want it. Diets are evil.

    I like the simplicity of this dish - great for those days when you want a real meal but really don't want to cook a stinking thing...

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  7. What a wonderful dish and gorgeous photographs. You are right about preparing. Both my fast days this week were unprepared and consisted of 2 cups of low cal hot chocolate and beans on toast. Saying that, I did actually enjoy them and had no cravings to eat anything else. Some weeks are just more prepared than others for me.

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  8. We have a limited usagge of beans and this one sounds like a great new recipe with beans to try! Love the flavors of rosemary and garlic in it!

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  9. That dish looks delicious! I am a huge bean fan!Love it!

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  10. I'm intrigued by the 5:2 diet thing. Sounds like a diet I could actually stick to for once. How's it working?

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    1. Funny, until yesterday I would have said it was going great. Then ... on my "fast day" (which I should call my FAT DAY) I got so hungry I ate a hunk of Cotswold cheese, nibbled pasta leftovers and drank 2 glasses of rose! Other than that, it's been going well ... ; p

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  11. A simple but I'm sure delicious tasting dinner of beans.

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  12. it is delicious. how much is a serving that will keep you under 500 calories? i'm going to try a cup for lunch and a cup for dinner with a salad for a 500 day. guess i can figure it out.

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