I don’t have enough ambition to cook my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking or through The French Laundry Cookbook or definitely not through the Alinea cookbook. These women are the few and the brave. But the other day after prepping another quick and easy meal from Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Expresss, my husband announced, “Hey, we could cook our way through this book!.” And actually, we are, if in a random, disorganized manner. Now that we’ve set it as an actual goal, watch this space for more and more Bittman recipes.

The other day we whipped up a batch of Saffron Chickpea soup and just didn’t find it flavorful enough. That doesn’t mean it’s off our list permanently because I think with some tweaking it could be better. But with all the other recipes to tick our way through first it will be a long time before we loop back.

Instead today I made the White Bean Stew, which was super speedy and delivered on flavor. And I made just one adjustment, replacing the handful of ham with a handful of bacon. Because, you know, everything’s better with bacon. This recipe couldn’t be easier if you’re ok with using canned beans. And even if you’re not, because you could cook up some beans on the weekend and just save them to use in this dish or any other later in the week.

I really liked this soup — hearty and tasty, and healthy too, covering all the food groups, particularly if you serve it as recommended with some toasted garlic-y bread. Next time I might add some fresh herbs, especially basil, for some additional brightness. Or a squeeze of lemon. But overall verdict: would make again for sure.

Kitchen Express White Bean Stew

Mince a couple of cloves of garlic (I went overboard here and used like 4 or more, but adjust to your taste) and chop up enough bacon to be roughly a handful. The bacon should be a thick-cut type ideally. Warm a little oil in the pot, and saute the garlic and bacon long enough for them to become fragrant. The bacon doesn’t need to crisp up but it should cook a little and let some of its oils out.

Pour in a can of chopped tomatoes, including the liquid. Add a can of white beans (I like Great Northern in this but you could use cannellini or any other white bean) or equivalent of say 2 cups if you’re using home-cooked. Include the liquid from the can too. Add another cup of broth or more bean cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper and let ‘er rip until she boils. Let the stew simmer away as long or as short a time as you like — a little longer helps the flavors meld together. Throw in a couple of handfuls of spinach or other green until they wilt, and serve.

Shhh… I actually made this on Saturday but if you don’t tell anyone, neither will I!

I know brussels sprouts aren’t most people’s favorites, but for some reason in the past couple of years I have fallen in love with them. They can be a little bitter, but if they’re cooked right (especially golden brown… with bacon) that harshness mellows right out and instead they taste a little caramelized and little like green-vegetable popcorn. Or maybe that’s just my imagination. In this case I shredded the brussels sprouts so they cooked through more quickly, and the lively flavor of the butter, lemon and bacon could get to all the surface area of the sprouts rather than just the outsides. Yum.

And, in theory, they’re healthy. What’s not to like about green veggies? Just don’t think about all the bacon and the butter.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Lemon Butter

• Brussels sprouts, say a 1-1 1/2 pounds
• Bacon, 5 slices, but eyeball it, more if you want
• Butter, several tablespoons (I always go overboard because I love butter)
• Lemon, one lemon

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F. Rinse the brussels sprouts. Trim off the bottoms and pull off any old / dirty / icky outer skins. Slice the bulb into 1/4 inch (approximately) thick slices and put aside. Put the bacon in an oven-safe pan on medium-low and render the fat from them. When most of the fat is out of the bacon but before the bacon gets hard and brown, remove the bacon from the pan. If your bacon was super fatty,  you can skip the butter, but I usually throw in a couple of pieces of butter at this stage and let it melt. Squeeze in the lemon juice into the butter being careful not to get the pits into the pan.  Turn up the heat to medium high and throw in the shredded brussels sprouts. Fry until the brussels sprouts begin to get brown. Cut up the bacon into small pieces and add back to the pan and stir in. Move the pan to the oven for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove when the sprouts are nice and brown. The sprouts will be soft and pliable and maybe a little bit dry. Use your own judgment here — because they are shredded they will probably be almost cooked enough even before you put them in the oven, so you’re really just going for what you like. I like ‘em nice and brown and a touch dry. Brussels sprout candy. Yum.