Beans Marbella Recipe (2024)

From the notes in her Veggie newsletter, which would have been helpful to include in the recipe: "I’d like to think of the salad component on top, dressed with vinegar-soaked shallots and capers, as completely flexible — one day it could be radicchio and roasted mushrooms instead of potatoes, and another it could be sliced radishes and snap peas, salad leaves, roasted baby artichokes, or a bunch of torn herbs."

When adding additional water to the cooking beans, use boiling water so it doesn’t slow down the cooking process.

Adding unheated water can also cause the beans to break open and fall apart.

I used dried apricots as they were on hand. A real crowd pleaser !

Excluding fat from a diet is not good for you - your body needs fat to support many biological processes in your body, most notably brain function. Olive oil is a healthy fat (monosaturated) and you shouldn't be afraid to use some. Like any ingredient, you can use it according to your taste. But please don't follow the misguided diets from the 70's and 80's that urged fat to be eliminated from people's diets.

Do not add salt to the beans until they have begun to get soft. Salt at the beginning will cause them to stay hard.

Variation. Prunes, which add a needed sweetness here, are not to everyone’s taste. If that’s you, substitute another dried fruit. An equivalent weight of white raisins (sultanas), dried apricots or dried figs are all appropriate Mediterranean choices.

I'm not aware of any diseases or conditions that mandate complete exclusion of all fat from a person's diet - if there are, please let me know. Obviously, excessive fat consumption, particularly trans-fats, is unhealthy, particularly in overweight people. But the obesity epidemic in America is more due to excess consumption of sugar than to excess consumption of fat. Fat is, in fact, an essential nutrient for your body and is used in brain function and many other processes.

I would add that I often make "seitan marbella" using exactly the same recipe as the original Silver Spoon recipe, except that I substitute home-made seitan for the chicken (you could use store-bought) and I do not broil because that will toughen the proteins in the seitan. The dish benefits from marinating just as does the original, and in some ways is easier without the broiling step: you just wack it in a Dutch oven on your cooktop until it is warm and the sauces have reduced.

Made this 3 cans of canellini beans. Used veg broth for the liquid.

I realize that this defeats the vegetarian aspect, but I think they’d be great with some soppressata or other spicy Italian salami together with the olives and prunes.

Delicious! I added more prunes than the recipe called for and I'd do that again (3/4 cup?). Though the potatoes were good, they didn't seem to compliment the dish, other than to give an additional flavor profile to the meal? That said, my older son liked them so I'd make them again. I made garlic bread to go with this, and that was delicious, but I think rice would go better with this.

I am sorry to see the snark in comments like "not everyone is terrified of consuming lipids". Many people have congenital or acquired health conditions that require them to reduce or eliminate lipids. Creative cooking can overcome flavor and texture limitations. Everyone would likely benefit from cutting down on fat, so there should be options to do so when we choose.

You definitely need oil in a vegetarian dish like this to give it some body and flavor. But I agree, the amount of oil can probably be cut back. Maybe even by half. Taste as you go along. You can always add more.

Loved this! Beans were yummy with all the flavoring added before I even started the wine part of the recipe. I might try reducing final 1/4 C of olive oil. Not sure I needed all that much oil. Sure was good as written though!

I made this as directed and really enjoyed it. That being said, as I review the comments suggesting doubling the prunes and olives, adding stock instead of water, or finishing with balsamic, I find myself thinking, "Yes, that would have been better," because it did need a bit more zing.

I really dislike dried fruits and substituted a bit of brown sugar (not sure how much, just tossed some in). Turned out nicely!

Tasty, though I wish it were a bit zingier. For reference, I soaked my dried beans overnight and they still took 2+ hours to cook.

As other cooks have done, I doubled the olives and prunes. Added balsamic vinegar until the sweet acid brought everything to life. Was a winner with my vegan guests!

I cooked the beans in the instant pot for 32 minutes. Wonderful meal.

Delicious recipe with Rancho Gordo Marcella beans. Used less oil and finished with a sunny side egg on top for some extra protein! Yum!

It was good freshly cooked and it was amazing the next day. Highly recommend making a bigger portion.

Needs more seasoning - bouillon in the beans, caper brine, something. Held up nicely for the week but felt like a lot of effort. Will make again when I want to switch it up.

Tasty and easy to scale up or down with the amount of ingredients you have on hand.

Perhaps it was partly the color of the finished dish (gray/mauve) that made it less enjoyable to eat than many NYTimes recipes. The flavor was not memorable either. However, the potatoes with shallots, red wine vinegar, and parsley were delicious and worth the trouble and disappointment of the beans. I will be making those again!

Easy, delicious, and perfect for a cold night in January! I didn't have prunes on hand, so substituted dates. The only thing I will change next time, based on personal preference, is to add more olives. I thought the potatoes were delicious, but love the idea from her original newsletter of substituting anything on hand for them. My MIL brought me some gorgeous olive oil from Italy and I used it to top - absolutely worth it.

A wonderful variety of interesting flavors and ingredients, but the finished dish didn't come together in a harmonious way. Overall disappointing.

I do not understand why one must cook dried beans for such a long time. Indians tend to cook all sorts of beans routinely and we do so by first soaking the beans overnight. Then throwing them into a pressure cooker (use Instapot) and it’s done in 10-15 minutes.

This was insanely delicious. Especially with the acidic potatoes.I added dried apricots and some kale, my roommates loved it too.

I used cranberry beans and cooked them in my pressure cooker—40 minutes on high with a 15 min slow release. I also increased the amount of olives and raisins (sub’d for prunes) to 3/4c. We loved it!