White bean cutlets and mashed potatoes

I love white beans. I use them in a lot of things from baked beans to dips to stews with artichoke hearts (make mental note – haven’t made the stew with artichoke hearts recently and really must blog about it soon). I made a pot of white beans over the weekend and still had some left and decided to do a variation of the chickpea cutlets from the Veganomicon using white beans. I wanted a more French or Italian feel for them so I ended up with a blend of white beans, garlic, sage, basil, and lemon zest and finished them in a sauce of shallots, garlic, capers, white wine and lemon juice.

What could be better with these than mashed potatoes and some cheezy sauce? I had some basil tofu aioli left over and decided it would add a nice lemon and herbal note to the potatoes. (Cheezy sauce is a household favorite with potatoes of all kinds: baked, hash browns, mashed, etc.)

White Bean Cutlets
Makes 6-8 cutlets

2 cups of cooked white beans
4 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of dried basil
1 teaspoon of dried sage
Zest from two lemons, finely diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon paprika
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 slice of whole wheat bread, ground to crumbs in a food processor
¾ cup of vital wheat gluten (or more if needed)
Olive oil or spray oil
2 tablespoons of roasted garlic
1 shallot, finely chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon capers, diced if large

1. In a mixing bowl, mash the beans well and add the garlic, basil, sage, lemon zest, salt, paprika, black pepper, and soy sauce. Blend well.
2. Mix the bread crumbs in and then the wheat gluten and knead for a few minutes in the bowl. Divide into six to eight cutlets.
3. Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat and glaze with olive oil or spray oil. Add the cutlets and brown on one side 5-7 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for another 5-7 minutes. Remove the cutlets from the pan and keep warm.
4. Sauté the shallot and garlic for 1-2 minutes. Deglaze with the lemon juice and white wine. Add the basil and capers. Add the cutlets back to the pan and flip once to coat with sauce. Serve with remaining sauce over the top.

For the mashed potatoes, simply boil potatoes and mash with roasted garlic, soy cream, and basil tofu aioli to taste. Serve with cheezy sauce (aka Nooch sauce).

Cheezy sauce (adapted from the Veganomicon, which you really should buy)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup of white wine
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
2 cups of vegetable stock or water
¼ cup of white flour
¾ cup nutritional yeast (nooch)
Salt and black pepper to taste

1. In a small sauce pan, sauté the garlic in the oil for a few minute. Be careful not to let it darken or burn.
2. Add the turmeric and mustard and stir to combine. Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the tarragon.
3. Mix the flour with the stock and combine with a whisk until smooth. Add to the sauce pan.
4. Add the nutritional yeast and cook over medium low heat until thickened, stirring often.