Super Natural White Beans and Cabbage

This week I've cooked three more recipes from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day and I continue to find it an appealing cookbook (it also won a James Beard award!). Last night we cooked up a strawberry salad and a ravioli and broccolini dish for friends and on Monday, I made her recipe for White Beans and Cabbage, in order to use up a half a head of green cabbage we had in the fridge. It's a rich-tasting-yet-healthy meal that costs very little to make. I can't explain it, but the resulting dish has a deep, almost buttery flavor to it, despite the fact that there's no butter involved.

Here are my recipe notes: I added freshly ground pepper to the dish, and if I were making it again, I'd add a dash of hot red pepper flakes to the pan with the shallots. I was sort of lazy with my cabbage slicing, for even cooking, be sure to shred your cabbage uniformly and finely. The pan got quite dry near the end, so I drizzled some additional olive oil over the beans to keep things from drying out too much.

White Beans and Cabbage
From "Super Natural Every Day"
Serves 4

Ingredients
:
2 tablespoons olive oil

4 ounces (1/4 pound) potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed and cut into tiny cubes
Fine-grain sea salt

1 large shallot, thinly sliced

2 cups cooked and cooled white beans, or 1 can (15 ounces) white beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups finely shredded green cabbage
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
:
Pour the olive oil into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and a big pinch of salt. Toss, cover and cook until the potatoes are cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes. Be sure to scrape the pan and toss the potatoes once or twice along the way so all sides get color. Stir in the shallot and the beans. Let the beans cook in a single layer for a couple minutes, until they brown a bit, then scrape and toss again. Cook until the beans are nicely browned and a bit crispy on all sides. Stir in the cabbage, and cook for another minute, or until the cabbage loses a bit of its structure. Serve dusted with Parmesan.