White Bean & Sausage Stew

As promised, I’m posting the recipe to this stew I made on Friday, courtesy of All You Magazine. My review of the stew is 2 out of 5 stars. First, my substitutions only consisted of the sausages – I used Shadybrook Farms Turkey Hot Italian Sausages. The rest I used exactly as stated below. To me, this stew lacked flavor and moisture. After the stew has cooked for 2 hours, you then have the option of adding some additional water, which I did not do because at the 2 hour mark, there seemed to be plenty of moisture in the crockpot, but not enough, because it was very dry when it came time to eat. Maybe if I did this over, I would not have drained the tomatoes – that could have added some additional moisture. I found the stew to be very bean-y, and it definitely yielded more than 4 servings! Joel and I are still eating it, and to make it somewhat better, we’ve been adding cheddar cheese and water to the dish after microwaving it. It wasn’t the worst meal I’ve ever had, but I won’t make it again.

On another note, I’ve had a great weekend thus far. Yesterday, Joel’s mom, Joel, and myself went shopping for kitchen cabinets for their house. While it was an unsuccessful trip, we had a good few hours together – driving through parts of MD and DC that I’ve never seen before. I always enjoy seeing new parts of this city, even if it is the ghetto! On the way back to the apartment, we did some grocery shopping and then took a trip to Wal-Mart for some insect killer. I’m having a big issue with my houseplants and gnats. Gnats are really annoying – flying around your face when you least expect it – the occasional one flying up your nose! Eww! I Googled a solution to this problem and found various options, including placing apple cider vinegar and/or wine next to each plant to attract the bugs, which will then kill them and help you identify which plant is the culprit. I don’t actually think I need the vinegar in order to figure this out! I tried it anyhow, and less than 24 hours later, I have yet to spot any gnats in the vinegar or the wine. Either way, I had a feeling this method wasn’t going to work, so I bought some insect killer for houseplants last night – I’m trying it out on 2 of the suspect houseplants to see what happens – my fingers are crossed that the spray only kills the bugs and not the plants! If you know me, then you know I love my plants dearly, but I do NOT love these bugs! I’ll let you know!

And on a final note, I’m progressing well on the “no sweets for Lent” situation. The first 2 days were rough, but yesterday I bought a ton of fruit that will hopefully help combat these sweet cravings I keep having. Fortunately I’ve been at home more than I have been in the office since Lent began, so that has helped out. It’s usually around 2 PM, or immediately following lunch, that I get the huge sweet craving! I will admit that thinking about why I actually gave up sweets is helping me a lot – rather than if I simply gave them up to try to help myself out on Weight Watchers.

Now, back to this Nascar race! Go Jeff Gordon, Go!

White-Bean and Sausage Stew
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 4 hours

6 (3 oz.) Italian sausages
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 (15 oz.) cans white beans (Great Northern or navy), rinsed and drained
1 (28 oz.) can chopped tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and pepper

Poke holes in sausages and put in a large nonstick skillet. Add 1/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook sausages, turning, until lightly browned and water has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes and thyme.
Put half of bean mixture into a slow cooker. Arrange sausages on top, followed by remaining beans. Cook on high for 4 hours. Check after 2 hours and add water if mixture looks dry.
Remove sausages; slice thickly. Season beans with salt and pepper. Return sausage to stew. (Stew can be kept, frozen and tightly sealed, for up to 1 month.)

Yield: 4 Servings