Even with a healthful tweak, this savory veggie bake stays sumptuous
This recipe is my spin on a favorite from the very first cookbook I owned: the “Moosewood Cookbook,” by Mollie Katzen (Ten Speed Press, 1977). That book, which I still have — its cover sun-bleached and pages spattered — fed me throughout my college years and beyond. One dish from it that I made again and again was the simply named CheeseBeans, a savory, chili-seasoned bake of red beans, fresh tomatoes, chunks of sweet apple and cheese. Lots of cheese.
That heavy cheesiness is one reason I had not made it in years. But I found myself hankering for the dish recently, so I decided to take a fresh look at it and find a way to achieve its comforting, flavorful essence in a more healthful way. I’m sure glad I did, because now this sumptuous bake is officially back in my life.
My strategy was not to eliminate the cheese; it is an essential element that brings all the ingredients together as it melts, and it provides an unmistakable sumptuousness. But here, it is a supporting player rather than the lead. That’s reflected in the name I gave it. I flipped it, putting the beans first and Jack — as in Monterey Jack — at the finish. I kept the apples, tomatoes and seasonings from the original recipe, but upped the vegetable ante with a few handfuls of chopped kale, which fit in so seamlessly it was like it belonged there all along.
I also made the recipe more convenient by cooking it all in one Dutch oven rather than transferring the mixture to a casserole dish. The resulting stew is simple autumnal goodness, a tasty tribute to the past with a sensibility that’s just right for today.