July 14, 2021

Enneagram of Eating Part 1

A Loyal Sceptic and a Romantic, as an Enneagram 6 and 4 Jane is dedicated to figuring out the world as friend or foe, is a solution seeker, emotionally sensitive, and creative. There’s a lot more to Enneagram types than this and if you’re interested in exploring you can find links to Meg’s previous post “Enneagram – What is your Type?.

Greek beans with feta and Chard

It isn’t a coincidence that I find myself as a partner in this small food business, ensconced in my kitchen and cooking. The kitchen is a great source of creativity for me. I love the entire process from researching to recipe. I follow home cooks and great chefs on Instagram, and love to swap recipes with friends. I find joy in traveling the world and my own back yard in search of the best food and good ingredients.

Reverting to my (Enneagram) type 4 I chose this recipe as a work of simple culinary art through this lens:

Does it look good?
Have I sourced the best ingredients?
Is the aroma good?
Does it taste good?
What’s the texture like?
Have I treated the ingredients with respect?
Is it above average (there goes my Enneagram 4 again..!)

Greek beans with feta and chard checks all of the above with an affirmative YES ✅. The old adage “we eat with our eyes” rings true. The colors and shapes pop and give a cue to the palate that this is going to taste good. Look at how satisfying that giant bean looks, glistening, creamy in texture and color. The original recipe uses “Gigantes Plaki” in Greek, large, dried white beans. The correct amount of sauce to bathe in with zesty herbs and spices. Deeply tangy, sweet tomatoes and salty feta on top.

Print Recipe

Greek beans with feta and chard

Gigantes Plaki” in Greek, large white beans smothered in a rich tomato sauce with fresh herbs & feta.

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup 1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp 2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 x 15 oz cans Butter Beans drained & rinsed *
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp salt
Coq Au Vin blend or mixed Greek herbs
1 tbsp tomato purée
14.5 oz can tomatoes chopped
1 1/2 cups broth
4 oz chard spinach or kale, washed and chopped (if using chard - trimmed, stalks removed "de-veined")
small bunch fresh parsley chopped
small bunch fresh mint chopped
4 oz feta crumbled

Instructions

Slow Cook

Heat the oil in a skillet; sauté onion and garlic for 2 minutes; transfer to cooker.
Stir in the beans, paprika, salt, Coq au Vin blend, tomato puree, tomatoes, broth, and chard
Cover and cook on LOW: 7-8 hours or HIGH: 2-3 hrs.
Stir in the fresh herbs & crumble feta cheese over the top to serve.

Pressure Cook

Heat the oil on sauté function; sauté onion and garlic for 2 minutes.
Stir in the beans, paprika, salt, Coq au Vin blend, tomato puree, tomatoes, broth, and chard.
Secure the cooker lid, seal pressure valve; cook on Manual/Pressure for 8 minutes.
Quick Pressure Release.
Stir in the fresh herbs and crumble feta cheese over the top to serve.

Notes

Tips
*Replace 2 cans drained beans with 2 cups (1lb) butter beans, rinsed, unsoaked. Adjust cook time as follows:
Slow Cook: LOW: 9-10 hours or HIGH: 4 hrs
Pressure Cook: 40 minutes

Also makes a tasty soup! Just increase the vegetable broth from 1 1/2 cups to 6 cups when cooking.