Daily Plate: Butter Beans in Tomato Sauce

By Jess Cording

Though I love using different beans and legumes in everything from soups to stews to salads to baked goods (black bean brownies are amazing—I kid you not), I really hadn’t had butter beans until I tried them in a dish at a Greek restaurant called Snack Taverna— I just had to try recreating it at home, with a few tweaks of course—I added olives and swapped in goat cheese for feta.

This makes for a great side dish or lunch. I served it with whole wheat couscous and a side of kale chips, but I imagine it would be excellent over pasta or alongside pita and hummus.

Ingredients:

·      1 Tbsp olive oil

·      3-4 cloves garlic

·      5 oil-cured black olives, chopped

·      1 ½ c tomato sauce (homemade or jarred)

·      1 15-oz can butter beans, rinsed

·      ¼ c goat cheese

·      Salt and pepper to taste

·      Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

Directions:

1       Add oil to skillet or pan over medium heat. Sauté garlic until soft.

2       Add olives, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes and beans. Switch heat to low and allow to simmer 5-10 minutes.

3       Top with a sprinkle of goat cheese and serve on top of whole wheat couscous.