One of my favorite fellow Philly food blogger friends, Emily, recently made a big move to New York.
I’ve been missing dinner dates with her ever since.
After numerous failed attempts to plan a “Skype cooking session” together, the chance finally presented itself for me to head up and see Emily’s new place and get back into the kitchen with her.
We immediately got to scheming up dinner plans — soup for the first snowy night of the year! — and Emily kickstarted the blender to create some homemade almond milk for the next morning’s breakfast.
As two food bloggers, of course we also set out to create a new recipe for y’all, and this Italian-inspired white bean dish over quinoa is what we settled upon.
The salty combination of olives and sun-dried tomatoes is one I could eat on the regular, and for me, acts as the centerpiece of this meal.
A generous helping of kale gets added to the mix as does a splash of acidity from some lemon and a punch of garlic, all together working to take white beans to the next level.
We loved this meal because it’s so full of flavor (shout out to the toasted pine nuts, too!) but also incredibly healthy — a welcoming addition to a holiday season full of richness and decadent treats.
We used quinoa as the base for this dish, but feel free to play around and get creative with the grain!