Mashed White Beans

This is the side I served with the Mini Skillet Meatloaves. It's four ingredients (aside from salt, pepper and water) and takes about 10 minutes to make. The kind of recipe I like--good food, easy to prepare.

Mashed White Beans

1 tbsp olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp dried sage
1 cup water
salt and pepper

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden and fragrant, about 1 minute.

2. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add beans, sage and water. Cook, stirring often, until beans are hot and the liquid thickens, about 5 t0 7 minutes.

3. Mash beans, leaving some whole. Season with salt and pepper.

The Verdict: Super easy, super tasty. Even the toddler ate some.

This reminds me of an Italian version of refried beans. Cannellini beans are very flavorful, so simply adding sage, salt and pepper is perfect.

The original recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of water. I found that before I mashed my beans, I took out nearly a cup of liquid. I'll have to make this recipe again to figure out the right amount of water to add; it might be more like 3/4 cup. If you think appears soupy, take out some of the liquid. But don't leave the beans dry; you need the liquid to mash them.

This side compliments lots of foods. And it was so easy, I think this might become a staple side dish.