5 delicious recipes for anyone who loves beans and greens

by Rachel

I realized the other day that most of my go-to recipes lately have some combination of beans and greens! (And also lemon and Parmesan.) It probably has something to do with my love of chickpeas and chickpea pasta (with an assist from some of the bigger food trends happening right now). In any case, it’s going great and I have no desire to get off this train!

If you’re looking to get more beans and greens in your life, here are some of my favorite recipes:

  1. Linguine With Crisp Chickpeas and Rosemary, NYT Cooking.
    This recipe is so damn good. The crispy rosemary step always seems wildly fancy to me because I’ve never seen it anywhere else, but in reality it takes like three minutes and zero work. (It’s actually easier than having to chop the rosemary.) And the leftovers hold up quite well.

  2. Roasted Broccoli and White Beans, Shutterbean.
    This one is very good for breakfasts or lunches (or dinners) at home. I made it with frozen broccoli, which worked great. I also did half chickpeas and half white beans, as white beans because I was making a big batch and wasn’t sure how well the white beans would withstand reheating. (They were fine!) My fellow beans and greens enthusiast Alanna made it recently and said she thinks it would be great with the addition of some crispy breadcrumbs, and I very much concur.  

  3. Linguine With Chickpeas, Broccoli and Ricotta, NYT Cooking.
    This pasta really sold me on broccolini! Also, the broiled broccolini, kale, and chickpeas is so good — like, I just wanted to eat that on its own (maybe with an egg on top, like in the Shutterbean recipe). One note: adding the ricotta cools the entire dish down considerably; we ended up warming our bowls of pasta up in the microwave because it had cooled down so much.

  4. Shredded Brussels and Kale Spaghetti with Parmesan and Pine Nuts, How Sweet Eats.
    I’ve made this a couple of times now, in part because Whole Foods/Amazon Fresh sells pre-shredded B sprouts, which makes the recipe that much easier. If you make it, definitely don’t skip the pine nuts! Like all nuts, they are on the pricey side, but they add a lot of flavor and texture to this one, and really are worth it.

  5. Broccoli and Chickpea Salad, Martha Stewart.
    I discovered this recipe after Gyan — another beans and greens lover — brought it to a work potluck. It’s SO good — and basically a cold version of all of the warm recipes above! You can make it with frozen broccoli, which I think is worth it; if you do that, chopping the parsley will be the biggest lift. It’s super fresh and flavorful, is great for a potluck/party/picnic (Gyan’s has appeared at other parties since that first one and it never disappoints), and pairs extremely well with perfect chicken for a delicious lunch. 🥦

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Food, I just love chickpeas