More Dinner Art

A pretty dinner always makes it taste better; don't you think so?

I've been on a bit of an "eat healthier" kick for quite a while (much to my husband's dismay), but recently, he's decided "eating healthy" isn't too bad. This meal was stuffed tomatoes and a white bean consomme with almond milk.I had one problem when I wanted to make it... where to get almond milk? I live outside of a relatively small town and am about an hour from any health food stores. With no time to drive that distance, I ended up researching making my own almond milk [and I buy almonds in 1 gallon size buckets, so I figured I'd have enough almonds on hand :)].

It was surprisingly easy - fill a glass jar with 1/3 almonds, 2/3 water and seal tightly. Leave for 24 (but no more than 48 hours). Run through the blender and then strain out the almond pieces (which can be used as a topping for oatmeal or yogurt). The liquid left is your almond milk. Its taste is bland and similar to unsweetened soy, but I bet if it was sweetened it would be better.

So enough rambling. Here is the consomme recipe:
2 cans (19 oz ea) white beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
2 whole cloves garlic
1 sprig rosemary
1 T each finely chopped parsley, chives, and tarragon

Combine beans, milk, garlic, and rosemary in a 3 quart pot over high heat.
Add 1 cup water, simmer for 10 min.
Strain beans over a bown; reserve the liquid.
Discard rosemary and garlic.
Puree 2 cups cooked beans with 1 cup of reserved liquid.
Combine puree with rest of liquid and whole beans in pot.
Heat and stir briefly.
Add herbs, salt and pepper; serve with crusty bread.