Leek and Butter Bean Cassoulet

This is a delicious, comforting and warming recipe from The Doctor’s Kitchen. I have IBS and my stomach felt good after it. I ate it with a side of steamed broccoli and brussels sprouts.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)

1 tin of butter beans, drained and washed (I used 2 tins)

1 onion finely chopped

1 leek cut into 1cm slices (I used 2 leeks)

1 carrot diced

2 sticks of celery sliced

2 cloves garlic thinly sliced (I used 4)

2tsp dried mixed herbs (I used Italian herbs)

2 tsp wholegrain mustard

500ml vegetable stock

season with salt and pepper to taste

handful of fresh chopped parsley

Note:

I added 2 tbsp of tomato puree at the end before I seasoned the cassoulet.

You will notice to the right of the picture, there are 2 yellow courgettes which I found in my raised garden when I went out to cut parsley. It was a shame to waste them. It’s that sort of recipe.

Method

Prepare your ingredients as shown above.

Heat the oil in a large pan or casserole dish

Add the onion, carrot, celery and leek to the pan. Cook for around 5 minutes until the vegetables have softened slightly before adding the garlic, Italian herbs and mustard.

Cook for a further 2-3 minutes, before adding the vegetable stock and butter beans.

Simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the vegetables are just tender. Taste for seasoning and add a little salt and pepper and more mustard if you want. (Beware of putting too much mustard in as it makes it sharp tasting. At this point I added the tomato paste to taste).

Garnish with chopped fresh parsley or any fresh herbs.

I served this with steamed green vegetables: broccoli, sprouts and some wilted spinach. it was so nice I had the same meal the following day.

The recipe suggests serving with grains or crusty bread.

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Variations

Use any bean or spices you want.

Mediterranean: instead of the vegetables in the recipe use onions, skinned chopped tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, aubergine but adjust the cooking time as you want some texture in your finished dish. Add fresh Italian herbs and some chopped sun-dried tomatoes or paste. Adjust sauce to your liking with vegetable stock. To finish it off a few large green olives and some crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. You won’t need the mustard in this variation.

Dairy FreeGluten Freehealthy recipeveganVegetarian