Dinner Tonight

Just hypothetically, let's say you are incredibly busy this time of year.

Maybe you're frantically trying to mop up your flooded basement before your in-laws arrive for a long Christmas visit.  Maybe you're researching a cookie recipe that is simple, quick, and yields SIX DOZEN for the church Christmas Cookie Walk on Sunday, as you just remembered that you'd volunteered to bake them (it's raising money for Heifer International!  And it's cookies!  Genius.)  Maybe you're trying to figure out just how the 98 different appointments you've made between now and Sunday are going to happen, all at the same time.

Now, if you were like a certain friend of mine, you would cheerfully announce that it's Breakfast for Supper Night!!! and you would proceed to serve up the Yellow Meal of pancakes, eggs, and baked bananas.  And your kids and their playmates would go to bed exclaiming over the Most Fun Supper Ever.  OR, maybe your kids are camped out in front of Charlie Brown's Christmas movie, eating giant bowls-ful of Goldfish because you just couldn't come up with anything to make for dinner.  (And, as my friend pointed out, it's cheese and wheat in a bowl.  That's almost like pasta dinner, right?)

Well, friends,  I've got the solution for the nights in between Inspiration and Goldfish. And I'm hoping that it isn't just me who might need solutions like this.

Here's whatcha need for Pasta and Beans with Rosemary & Olive Oil

1 lg. can cannellini beans (or other white beans)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
abt a cup of chicken stock (or veg, whatever you've got)
a Tbsp chopped rosemary
squeeze of lemon juice
***
1 lb. cooked short pasta, e,g, penne (I use whole wheat generally, and it was great w/ this sauce)

Warm up the oil/butter, throw in the garlic. Before it even starts to brown, throw in the drained & rinsed can of beans.  Stir around a bit, mashing a little with a wooden spoon.  Throw in the chopped rosemary, simmer a bit more, and keep adding small amounts of stock to keep things sauce-like.  (Saucy?!?)  At the end, add the squeeze of lemon juice.  Use a light hand with this - you just want to 'brighten' the sauce, not make a lemon gravy.

Then serve this up on top of the pasta, and if you're feeling fancy, grate parmesan on top.

It is a bit of a bland looking dish, so you'll want to some nice colorful veggies alongside.  I think a green salad would be perfect - maybe a winter salad w/ pears walnuts & goats cheese.  But I had none of these things, so just did steamed carrots with chopped parsley & a bit of olive oil. 

Oh, and for the record, this would not be one of my Advent journaling insights.  In case you're wondering.  Once I get the basement dried out we'll be back on track.