I concocted this recipe on Saturday morning, I'm still not sure if it stands alone as a cold salad or if it would be better served warm side dish. I'm leaning toward the latter. Either way it's rich and flavorful with a mix of slow roasted tomatoes, smoky tempeh and creamy ricotta. Ingredients:
5 roma tomatoes, slow roasted
2-15 oz. cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
6 strips of tempeh bacon, cooked
1-1/2 cup of spinach, wilted
1/2-3/4 cup of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of red wine vinegar (balsamic works too)
salt & red to taste
olive oil
Steps:
Quarter tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and S&P and slow roast in the oven at 225 degrees F for 3 hours. (See Smitten Kitchen's recipe for more detailed instructions).
Combine white beans, tempeh bacon and spinach in a bowl. Coat with a touch of olive oil to prevent the ingredients from sticking.
Once the tomatoes are done, cut each quarter into strips and add to the white bean mixture.
Add in ricotta cheese and mix together until all of the ingredients are coated.
Slowly work in the vinegar to help thin out the mixture a bit.
Sprinkle in salt and pepper (I used garlic salt and ground red pepper) to taste. Combine.
Can be served warm or cold. Should last about 2 days in the fridge.
Serves about 4. To serve it warm you can just pop it in the microwave for about a minute to heat the beans through.
Note: I'll be traveling for the next week all over the Southeast. More on this later.
