037 / 75 · Beans, Lentils and Chickpeas
Butter Bean and Kale Tomato Pot
2 deep bowls, each with half the bean-kale pot and 1 slice of bread · Active 30 min · Total 55 min
Print recipe · PDFButter beans make this tomato pot feel substantial without a long ingredient list. Their broad, soft centers contrast with kale that has had enough time to become tender. The beans begin fully cooked and drained; the stated time is for making this meal, not boiling a bag of dry beans. A slice of whole-wheat bread is included in each portion for the tomato broth.
Separate the tough parts first
Run a knife along either side of each kale stem. Finely slice the usable tender stems and add them with the onion, giving them a head start. Chop the leaves into short strips instead of leaving long ribbons that trail from a spoon. Older, thicker stems can be too fibrous for this method; discard those before weighing the prepared kale. The tomato simmer softens the leaves without requiring a large separate pot of boiling water.
Handle butter beans gently
Already cooked large lima beans, often called butter beans, can break if repeatedly stirred over high heat. Add them after the kale has begun to soften, use a broad spoon and fold from the bottom. A few broken beans are useful because they slightly thicken the broth. You are looking for a loose stew rather than a dry fry, so keep the measured water available and judge the pan as it simmers. A tight lid retains more moisture than a tilted one.
Make the starting state visible
If using beans cooked earlier, their storage clock began when they were first cooked. Turning them into a new dish does not grant them another three days. Keep them refrigerated until the pan is ready and use the finished meal within the earliest applicable limit. Commercially canned butter beans are a practical alternative, but drain and weigh them and use that product’s nutrition information rather than silently substituting the dry weight.
Ingredients
- About 2 1/2 cups fully cooked unsalted large lima beans/butter beans, drained (400 g)
- 1 can crushed tomatoes with juice (400 g/about 14 oz)
- About 5 packed cups kale, thick stems removed and tender stems/leaves separated (160 g prepared)
- 1 small onion, finely diced (100 g)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (6 g)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil (10 ml/about 9 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika (1 g)
- 3/4 cup water (180 ml)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice (10 ml/about 10 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g)
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (0.3 g)
- 2 slices whole-wheat bread (80 g total)
Set out
3-liter/3-quart saucepan with lid, Knife and board, Sieve, Kitchen scale, Measuring jug, Broad spoon, Food thermometer, 2 deep bowls
Allergens
Wheat; check bread labels for milk, sesame or other added allergens. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Check that the beans are already fully cooked and safely stored. Strip out thick kale stems. Finely slice tender stems and roughly chop the leaves into short strips, keeping them separate.
- Heat oil in the saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion and finely sliced tender kale stems for 8–10 minutes until softening. Stir in garlic and paprika for 30 seconds.
- Add tomatoes, water, salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Fold in kale leaves, cover and cook gently for 10–12 minutes, stirring once, until the leaves are tender enough to bite easily. Tougher kale may need a few extra minutes.
- Fold in drained cooked beans. Cover and simmer gently for 8–10 minutes until the whole mixture reaches 165°F/74°C. Stir carefully to avoid crushing every bean. If very thick, loosen with a small splash of hot water; if too loose, simmer uncovered briefly.
- Take off the heat, stir in lemon juice and divide between 2 bowls. Serve each with 1 slice of the measured bread.
A useful kitchen skill
Start tender vegetable stems before their leaves, and distinguish fully cooked bean weight from dry or undrained package weight.
A useful detail
The base estimate uses cooked, drained, unsalted mature large lima beans, not dry beans or canned beans plus packing liquid. Dry-bean preparation is outside this meal time; canned beans are a variation with a different nutrition basis.
Another way
- Use 400 g drained commercially canned butter beans instead of the boiled-unsalted base; follow their label and recalculate with that product.
- Replace kale with 160 g prepared Swiss chard, giving diced stems the early cooking stage and adding leaves for the final 5–6 minutes before the beans.
Keep it well
Refrigerate promptly in shallow containers at 40°F/4°C or below within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C. Use within 3 days or the original cooked beans’ remaining safe storage period, whichever ends first. Reheat only the portion needed to 165°F/74°C throughout. Freeze for up to 2 months and thaw in the refrigerator. Keep bread separate.