We talked about super easy and fast Cassoulet with Vegetables last time.

Do you want a secret to make it even faster with virtually no time in the kitchen?

If you already have mirepoix on hand, you can skip the first step of chopping onions, carrots and fennel, and sauteing them.  I personally love fennel that adds a lot of flavor to the dish, but hey, when I want to save time, celery does a pretty good job too.  Now I realized that I can use mirepoix for this dish too, it maybe worth making it with fennel…  Will try in my next batch and let you know!  I expect the fennel version will be nice in fall and winter in soups, or with seafood.

In a microwavable bowl, place mirepoix, greens (I used arugula for this, since I already used up kale.  It cooks faster, and no need to chop.  Spinach will work too), salt and pepper, drizzle EVOO and mix the greens with EVOO well. Add a can of cannellini beans, liquid, cover and cook until hot.

This will save you extra 15 minutes or so, plus once you put everything in the bowl, all you have to do is turn the microwave on, and it’ll be done without you being in the kitchen!  If you use Mirepoix Meat mix like I did here, the sausage will add extra flavor. Or keep it vegan or vegetarian with some cheese on top.

Try this when you are really short with time.  Healthy and very satisfying dinner for in less than 5 minutes with virtually no effort!

As usual, if you add extra liquid, you can make the soup exactly the same way.  Or with the leftover, you can make  quick risotto too.  Just add cooked rice and extra arugula (you must have figured out that I bought 2 lbs bag of arugula again…) and microwave it, and mix in a torn sheet of sliced pepper jack cheese at the end.

Yum, yum, yum!  What a perfect lunch for a cold fall day like this!  Took me virtually no effort!

Have a great weekend!