In a large skillet add in the extra virgin olive oil and bring to a high heat. Next, add in the garlic and onion and sauté for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally.
Next, add in the asparagus, tomatoes, salt, and ground black pepper and sauté for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally.
Next, add in the cannellini beans with liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally, or until the asparagus is tender.
To Serve:
Serve as a side dish with chicken, pork, or steak. Or feature this dish by itself for a healthy vegetarian entrée.
Notes
Invent Your Recipe:
In this recipe, Asparagus with Beans and Tomatoes, I am using great cannellini beans. For the bean selection you can use any bean that you like or that you have on hand. I have used great northern, kidney, garbanzo, navy, and pinto beans before in this recipe. I have never used black beans. You can give them a try but the color of the dish and the flavor will but quit different than with the other beans.Instead of asparagus you could use another vegetable, such as, Swiss chard, kale, escarole, spinach, green beans, broccoli, zucchini, or eggplant, to name a few. I have used Swiss chard and escarole before so I know those substitutes work well. For the kale, I would add a few extra minutes (about 5) of cooking, unless you like your kale a bit crunchy and textured.Instead of the grape tomatoes you could use cherry tomatoes, a can of diced tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, or roasted red peppers. The sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers would change the taste of the dish the most, so I would only recommend those if you know you like those flavors.