Red Bean Bourguignon

The inspiration for this Red Bean Bourguignon, or Red Beans in a red wine sauce, came from a recipe in a book called The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook by Robin Robertson. I ended up combining this recipe with a recipe for Red Beans, Burgundy Style from The Vegetarian Bistro.

This recipe is my contribution to Sweetnicks ARF/5-A-Day Tuesday (ARF=Antioxidant Rich Food), as the red kidney beans are one of the top antioxidant rich foods. Red beans are high in protein and fiber, and provide iron (energy production), Thiamin /Vitamin B1 (good for your memory), and maganese (a strong antioxidant).

I'm not big on the three bean salad that I most often see these dark red kidney beans featured in. The combination of these two recipes offered a richer prospect and, although I think it's often a mistake to recreate a vegetarian version of a famous meat dish (Beef Bourguignon), I was curious to try this one. It was excellent and we ate it all with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. It was very flavorful - red wine, pearl onions, rosemary, mushrooms, garlic - without being heavy.

Next time, I'll try adding seitan or firm tofu (in addition to the beans) to provide a more meaty texture. I thought about the Morningstar Steak Strips, but it would have to be something that could stand up to 30 minutes of flavor-infusing simmering.

Red Beans Bourguignon (serves 2):

8-3/4 oz can dark red kidney beans
1-1/2 tbsp butter
8 pearl onions, peeled, topped, and cut in half
1 carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 oz mushrooms, clean and sliced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig rosemary
pinch of dried thyme
2 tsp tomato paste
3/4 cup red wine (approx.) (I used Pinot Noir)
salt & pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat and cook onions, carrot, and garlic gently for 5 minutes. In a separate pan, cook the mushrooms with a dot of butter until they release their juices. Drain. Add the cooked mushrooms, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, tomato paste, wine and beans. Season. Simmer for 20 minutes uncovered, adding more wine or water if needed, until vegetables are tender. Check seasoning and serve with potatoes or rice, your favorite green vegetable, and a nice glass of red wine.