Beans and Cabbage and Pasta, oh my!

My first attempt at cooking dried fava beans was a big failure which was rather disappointing because everyone and his uncle rave about fava beans. Mine just turned to mush and the ugly skins peeled off in big clumps. Plus they tasted horrible. They went straight to the compost bin.

I was hesitant to cook these gorgeous beans for the same reasons. But I am happy to report they not only turned out perfectly, they tasted delicious. Tim brought them from Japan; the directions are in Japanese, but I figured I couldn’t go wrong with the standard bean method of a quick pre-soak and then a slow simmer till soft.  Google tells me they are called Japanese black kidney beans.

 All I know is that they were beautiful before they were cooked and even more beautiful when they were ready to be eaten.

I served them with a simple garlicy tomato sauce and pasta. As a side, I made a killer roasted garlic cabbage steak.  I’m telling you – this was a good meal.