Cannellini Beans with Garlic Spinach

We are starting off the pantry challenge with a flavorful and healthy recipe.  This Mediterranean-based dish makes a vegetarian main or a good side with grilled fish or chicken.  It comes together in half an hour largely with canned and frozen items.

I admit, not everyone keeps sun-dried tomatoes in oil in their pantry.  They're great to have for salads.  I don't think I've ever used a whole cup at once, but they are making up a great deal of the flavor.  Roasted red peppers would be a good substitute.  The point here is to used the flavored oil they're packed in as the cooking oil.

I did use a pinch of red pepper flakes in this to perk it up.  Very unusual for me.  I couldn't even taste the heat with the 1/4 teaspoon or so that I used.  It would take at least double that to make this spicy.

*1 8oz jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil
*1/2 onion, diced
*4 cloves garlic, minced
*1 8oz package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
*1 15 oz can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
*Parmesan cheese for garnish

1.  Strain off most of the oil from the tomatoes into a large skillet and heat over medium.  Add the dice onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.

2.  Add in the spinach, salt, rosemary, and drained beans.  As the mixture heats and the rest of the water from the spinach evaporates, season with pepper and red pepper flakes.

3.  Add in the tomatoes from the jar, heat, and taste again.  Adjust seasonings and serve hot, garnished with Parmesan.  I also tossed on the last of the delicata squash seeds I had roasted.

Difficulty rating  π