Beans on toast for dinner

Beans on toast for dinner! The rib eye "flintstone" steak I'd planned to cook for dinner was still frozen solid, so a plan B was needed.

I like to have cupboards well stocked with basic supplies like beans, tinned tomatoes, coconut milk, etc. This came in handy, as we didn't have a hell of a lot else.

I used the small amount of supermarket crab (note: pretty bland) and some cannelini and borlotti beans to make a nice version of beans on toast. The beans are canned; I know that is a bit slack, but this is not the sort of meal you plan 24 hours in advance, giving you time to soak dried beans.

I just sweated a couple of shallots and a clove of garlic in some olive oil with a few sprigs of thyme, added the beans and a good glug of water, reduced til thick and creamy. Stirred in some red wine vinegar, good olive oil and salt and pepper.

On top I put some cold crab into which I'd mixed half a deseeded red chilli, some parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt. The whole thing was placed on top of some bread that I'd brushed with oil and baked at 150c for 10 or 15 minutes and then rubbed with garlic.

I was quite surprised by how well this came out, I was kind of expecting it to be lacking something or be just generally bland, but it all worked. Monday night experimentation!