What are pizza beans? They’re hearty white beans that taste like pizza, of course, simmered in a marinara-like sauce and topped with bubbling mozzarella cheese. Deb came up with the concept, and I’m a huge fan.

Today, I’m sharing my spin with canned beans, optional spinach, and a rich tomato paste-based sauce that tastes like it’s been simmering on the stove for hours. It’s cheesy and satisfying like baked ziti, but more wholesome and easier to make.

These pizza beans are so good and simple that this dish kinda feels like cheating. It’s an easy weeknight meal for cooler days. I bet you already have the ingredients in your pantry!

The post Pizza Beans appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Well, I’d never done a livestream on Substack until yesterday morning and it was fun. It wasn’t as nervous making as live cooking demos I’ve done on Instagram. Nor was it hair raising like the time my hairdresser taught me how to trim my bangs during the pandemic!

A big hug and thank you to , , , , , and the more than 80 other folks for tuning in for the fish sauce Q&A and virtual tasting. (Your nuoc cham Viet dipping sauce recipe may never the the same again!)

As I said at the top of the session, I didn’t know who would or could attend. With everyone’s busy lives and time differences, who knows when to schedule anything anymore? And what interests you?

I plan to do more and will keep you posted. Join me for my next live video in the app. If you don’t have the app yet, here’s a handy link.

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💎 Stir-Fry your Collard Greens

Another thing I did recently that turned out better than I thought it would was stir-frying collard greens! I thought they always needed a long simmer or prolonged steam saute. Turns out, as I learned from a recipe by Ronald Hsu (the scrumptious chicken-and-rice casserole chef in Atlanta with a new Chinese American cookbook), collards work swimmingly well in stir-fries. It all depends on how you treat them.

I took Ron’s beef and collard greens stir-fry for a spin and Rory and I were sold. Springtime collards are fabulously tender. Get the stir-fried beef and collard greens recipe plus my pointers at the website.

💎 Food and Cooking in Poetic Form

Speaking of the American South, the Southern Foodways Alliance’s spring 2026 issue of Gravy is choc-a-block full of provocative poetry about what we cook and eat. If you’re an SFA member, you’ve received the recent quarterly journal. If you’re not in SFA, check out Gravy back issues here.

But right now, I’m highlighting a poem by the very talented Adrienne Su.

Coming up on Sunday are two more Viet ways to celebrate springtime asparagus. Some of you may have asparagus already and if you’re like Kate and Nate in Maine, you’re still waiting. Well, I hope last weekend’s recipes and this coming weekend’s recipes will figure into your cooking schedule sooner or later.