Branch out by trying escarole, a pleasantly bitter selection that contains more fiber than other common salad greens. It works in both raw and cooked applications; here its earthiness complements the creamy beans and smoky bacon. It's also great in soups--toss a handful of chopped escarole into your favorite recipe during the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking.
So good and a nice change of pace. Great flavor. I used about half a 16-oz head of escarole to get 6 cups. I was surprised how liquidy it came out and would've preferred it to be drier.
This was a fantastic side dish. I wish I had made more. My grocery store didn't have escarole so I used kale instead and cooked it for about half the time as was indicated for the escarole. I also didn't cook the onions for 12 minutes, but more like 5. 12 minutes seemed like an awfully long time for a small dice. They still had the flavors of a nice caramelization. The flavors of the kale, bacon, white beans and caramelized onion worked really well together. I paired it with cheese ravioli and from-scratch tomato sauce. AND a Concha Y Toro Syrah. Yum! This one is definitely a keeper!
Even the children loved it and they have not been escarole fans! It is just great! Its easy and hearty and adding it to some pasta makes an entire meal.
