This meal has been in top rotation since I found the recipe years ago. (It, like many good ideas, comes from the brain of British cook Nigel Slater.) We make it so often that it has become comfort food around our house – and I wanted to post a recipe for folks looking for some comfort over the next few weeks.
I also think this would be excellent hangover cure food. Just in case that happens to you.
If I remember correctly, the original version had different spices and no greens, which I promptly changed. Usually we add baby spinach leaves or a few clumps of frozen spinach right from the freezer. This time I had broccoli to use up, so in it went.
I think the carroty, buttery mash is my favorite part. This photo looks weird and doesn’t do it justice. It is awesome.
- 1 lb carrots, cleaned and cut into chunks
- 2 tablespoons salted butter or olive oil
- 1 can black beans
- a good pinch of coriander
- a small pinch of chili flakes
- a good pinch of dried oregano
- a couple of handfuls of greens or slivered broccoli
- 1 medium or 2 small onions, sliced into thin crescents
- salt & pepper
- cilantro to garnish
- Add the carrots to a medium pot of water and bring it to the boil. Cook until a knife cuts through a chunk easily. Drain loosely, leaving a bit of cooking water in the pot. Add the butter or olive oil and a good grind of salt and pepper. Mash or do as I do and use your trusty immersion blender to produce a silky but toothsome consistency. Set aside.
- While carrots are boiling, warm a frying pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of so of olive oil. Add the onion crescents and a good pinch of salt, and cook over 10-15 minutes or so until soft and caramelized. I am impatient at this stage and turn the heat higher than I should, which results in some very brown and crispy strands of onion in the mix.
- Scrape the onions into a bowl and set aside. Add the can of beans, liquid and all, to the skillet. Also add the greens/broccoli, the spices, and more salt and pepper. Stir/mash about for 5 minutes or so, until the greens are cooked and the beans have taken on some of the spice.
- Plate the bowls. Start with the carrot mash on the bottom. Add the bean mixture over the top, then finish with the onions and a handful of cilantro leaves if you have them.