This weeks recipe came out of sheer curiosity. Flipping through recipes, as I always do, I ran across this one for Cheesy Marinara Beans. I never though about taking white beans and treating them in the spirit of lasagna. And why not? They can be used in that way. The only things I see that need to be changed are the heavy tomato use and the sheer amount of cheese. I think I can make this cheesy without so much cheese and use pumpkin for the marinara sauce. To keep the carbs lower, I can see placing a few veggies on the side in place of a crusty baguette. I don’t think this dish needs extra bread. I do think this is a healthy comfort food dish that is definitely worth making. A change of pace from baked beans from the plethora of barbecues that you may be attending this summer.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed

• I replaced the tomato products with a pumpkin marinara recipe from Frugal Nutrition.
• I replaced the corona beans with great northern bean that are low sodium because they are easier to find and reduce the sodium.
• I increased the servings from 6 to 8 to lower the calories.
• I replaced the ricotta with a dairy free cream cheese to reduce the dairy.
• I reduced the amount of parmesan cheese to reduce the sodium.
• I replaced the fontina with mozzarella to reduce the sodium.
• I will be adding a vegetable side dish to cover the A and C.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Marinara Beans

Serves 8

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• 1 15-ounce can no-salt-added cannellini beans, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• ⅔ cup vegan cream cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Sauce