Dressing Beans

Today I'm trying not to jump the gun on Thanksgiving.

I have a bad habit of over doing it, of making a dish again and again until I can’t stand to look at it for a while. See recently: salad with vegan chicken nuggets. And before that, there was a jam phase and a Chongqing Suanlafen (酸辣粉) phase and of course during 2020, I made the seminal deb perelman pizza beans on endless repeat.

Even when I’m not actively cooking these recipes I’ve obsessed over, their general concept lives in my head rent-free. Like, what do you mean I can make humble beans mimic the flavor of anything I’m craving!? Here we are, a little over a week before Thanksgiving, and is it just me or is everyone dying for some cornbread dressing? I don’t want to ruin the big day, but I really don’t want to wait either.

So I’ve sauteed leeks, celery and carrots in olive oil, deglazed the pot with sherry and added vegetable stock plus a big jar of Alubia Blanca beans I simmered over the weekend. Obviously there must be a lot of thyme, a little sage and rosemary from the yard, and a generous shake of mushroom seasoning for umami. Later when everything is tender, I’ll swirl in a tiny bit of cream slurried with cornstarch to help it thicken up. I’ll also throw in chopped, blanched spinach because it is Monday after all. On the side, piping hot homemade cornbread and a glass of cloudy apple cider.