Wow, a bland-reading recipe that's tasty!

OK, OK - I admit it, I'm a slob in the kitchen (apart from keeping it reasonably clean) and with a long working week and time-consuming health niggles, I tend to go for the easy recipes which can be cooked once and eaten two/three times courtesy of the freezer and the microwave. But above all, there must be some prospect of enjoying it.

I go to France 3-4 times a year; no longer as stunningly cost-effective now that I've given up smoking, but still brilliant savings on wine (£1.50 a bottle, x 12 per case x 10 cases makes a saving of [cocks ear] yes that's right - for those that don't play darts or use calculators that's £180; even with the cost of the petrol and crossing, it's still a saving of at least £90, and that's ignoring the fact that I can't get my cheap, decent French breakfast coffee except at a cost of an extra £1.50 a packet and Amora dijon mustard - may not be grainy, but ghods it's good). Anyway, the point of this wittering is to point to something I've just prepared, cooked and eaten which is looks bland from the recipe (I did add a little sliced chili, but no garlic, in spite of temptation) but which is really tasty and filling - a chicken and white haricot bean stew...

Oh, and the reason for the French trip was that I purchased a 600 ml jar of said haricots on my last French trip for about a £1 and am far, far to mean to throw food away!