The other day we made a minimal variation on Heidi's pan-fried white beans for dinner. Essentially, I just softened some chopped onion, garlic, and jalapeño in olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper, and dried marjoram, and tossed in a bunch of cooked, drained white beans, shaking the pan occasionally to crisp them up on all sides. We ate them for dinner with sautéed soyrizo and a massive pile of green salad.

Afterward, we had a serving or so of beans left over. Hooray! This meant that the next morning I could transform them into tasty white beans and greens for breakfast.

Pan-fried white beans with spinach and yogurt

leftover crispy white beans
olive oil
spinach or other greens
plain yogurt
parsley and/or other herbs
pepper

Fry beans until hot, stirring or shaking the pan occasionally. (You could, of course, start from scratch here if you have no leftovers, but I did have leftovers, so hey!) While the beans are becoming even tastier than before, wash, destem, and roughly chop as much spinach (or other greens) as you want to eat. I like plenty of greens, so I used two solid handfuls of mature leaf spinach. Tender greens like spinach reduce quite a bit when they hit the heat, so it's definitely a good idea to use a lot.

Add the still-wet spinach to your toasty beans. Stir it all together and continue to cook for a minute or two, or until your spinach is completely wilted. The water on the leaves will help with this. If you're using a slightly hardier green, like chard or escarole, you may need to cook for a few minutes longer. If you're using something like kale, you'll definitely need to add a little water and keep cooking for a good five minutes.

Done! Plate yourself some white beans and spinach. Add a generous spoonful or two of plain yogurt, some chopped parsley or other herbs of your choice, and some cracked black pepper. The yogurt is actually pretty important, because otherwise the beans are apt to be a bit dry. If you hate yogurt, you may want to try a drizzle of olive oil, a scoop of ricotta, or even a marinara sauce instead.

Now eat! This makes a filling, healthy, and delicious breakfast. It's perfect for those of us who like a savory breakfast, but don't want to end up eating leftover takeout every morning. Not that there's anything wrong with leftover takeout for breakfast! I eat it fairly frequently myself. But you have to admit that transforming your leftovers into a freshly made dish is much more satisfying, right?