I’m back, I’m back, I feel fully back to my life! Vacation was wonderful, and so needed,

but there’s something wonderful about being in my own home, my own bed, and my own kitchen!

I got home late Monday night and on Tuesday morning I realized we were in serious need of groceries. I worked with what I had on hand: I enjoyed a piece of toast with Earth Balance and nutritional yeast for breakfast and dipped some raw green beans and snap peas in humus for lunch.

By late afternoon I was craving cooking time in the kitchen so I scoured the cupboards and came up with this.

I heated up avocado oil in the pressure cooker and added minced garlic, a bay leaf and dry, small white navy beans (rinsed and drained) and just enough water to cover the beans. I cooked them at pressure for 16 minutes and allowed for a natural release. As the beans were finishing up I made some pasta that I found at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago.

I cooked it for 12 minutes. In the meantime, I seasoned the perfectly done beans with the juice of half a lemon and a bit of iodized sea salt. I drained the pasta, added the beans and stirred in dried thyme. I chopped up a head of romaine lettuce and a few raw green beans and tossed the salad in a simple dressing of lemon juice + Bragg’s Liquid Aminos. I served the pasta and beans with fresh ground pepper and a bit more thyme.

Obviously you can make this even easier by simply using canned beans but, people, there is nothing like home-cooked beans!