Super Green Butter Beans
I feel like once I started working and moved out of my childhood home, feeding myself nutritious food became really hard. It so easy to quickly make pasta, or have toast, but rarely do you want to cook yourself a proper meal.
Working in food as well, and spending most of my time cooking, the last thing I want to do when I get home is MORE cooking. So I always resort to some variation of either noodle soups or beans on a weekly basis.
This is one of my favourite beans to have. It has a whole bag of greens in it, spices, and great fats- it’s a really easy and delicious meal to make whenever you want something cozy, filling but actually good for you.
Serves: 3-4
Prep/Cooking Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
120g Spinach
200ml Full-fat Coconut Milk
2 Mild Red Chillies, Trimmed and minced
2 Spring Onions, Thinly sliced
1 Tsp Garam Masala
3 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and grated
5g Fresh Ginger, peeled and grated
660g Butter Beans (Canned or Tinned)
150g Small Tomatoes (baby plum, cherry…)
4-6 naans, to serve, optional
For the Tardka:
50 ml Oil
1 Tbsp Mustard Seds
10-15 Fresh Curry Leaves
2 Tsps Mild/Hot Curry Powder
Ingredients
1. Turn the grill onto medium-high. Into a blender, add the spinach with 100ml of water. Blend together until completely smooth.
2. Place a pan on medium heat, once hot, pour in 160ml of the coconut milk and cook stirring occasionally, until the coconut splits- the solids should toast and go golden, 5-8 minutes.
3. Add the spring onion and chilli, cook stirring until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add the garam masala, garlic and ginger, stir-fry until fragrant. Pour the spinach water into the mixture as well as the butter beans (liquid and all). Bring to a boil, place a lid on and cook on medium heat until thickened, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, grill the tomatoes until softened, 5-10 minutes.
5. In a small saucepan, make the tardka. Add the oil and place onto medium heat. Once hot, add the mustard seeds and cook until starting to pop, then add the curry leaves (careful, they will splatter!), remove from the heat and stir through the curry powder. Season lightly with salt.
6. Once the beans have thickened, remove from the heat. Taste and season with salt if needed. Top with the grilled tomatoes and drizzle over the remaining coconut milk and the tardka. Serve hot with some naans.