This Butter Bean recipe with Caramelised Onion, Kale and Preserved Lemon is the comfort food dish of your dreams. There's such a great balance of textures and flavours here in a conveniently easy vegan recipe. Using tinned butter beans and clever use of natural flavour enhancers means this will be in your recipe rotation in no time.
When people assume that healthy eating is boring, I think it's just that they may not know how to use superstar natural flavour enhancers. Cooking from scratch requires a good collection of condiments to serve as flavour foundations. In this recipe, gluten-free miso paste and preserved lemons are a match made in heaven: savoury umami meets zesty citrus. These two ingredients are essential for my kitchen adventures and last a long time in the fridge.
This recipe comes together easily, using tinned butter beans so there's no fussing with dried beans. It works well either as a side or a main and can easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd.
There are not just 1 or 2, but a whopping 5 ingredients included to support your gut microbiome diversity. Once you know how, it's really easy to create meals to support your gut health.
Butter beans have a great nutrition profile with plant protein, fibre, and a wide range of vitamins and minerals.
What you'll love about this Butter Bean Recipe
- Easy to put together
- Very beneficial to your gut microbiome - with 5 separate ingredients to support diversity
- Complementary textures from the crunchy kale to the creamy butter beans
- Balanced flavours - from the tart citrus to the umami miso
- Filling and comforting
- Inexpensive
Ingredients you'll need for this recipe
- Organic tinned butter beans
- Red onions
- Olive oil
- Boiled water
- White miso paste (gluten-free)
- Garlic
- Finely chopped preserved lemon
- Cooking salt
- Kale
Looking for more comfort food meals?
I've got you covered...how about Refried Black Beans? Or, Miso Noodle Soup with Nori and Shiitake? Dairy Free/Vegan Palak Paneer is another popular recipe here on the site!
Butter Beans with Caramelised Onions, Kale and Preserved Lemon
Equipment
- skillet or fry pan
- chopping board and knives
- measuring cups and spoons
- wooden spoon
- mug or small mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 can organic butter beans
- 2 medium red onions peeled and sliced in to rounds
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 cup boiled water
- 6 teaspoons gluten free white miso paste
- 8 large garlic cloves minced
- 6 teaspoons finely chopped preserved lemon including the rind/skin
- ¼ teaspoon cooking salt more if needed
- 280 grams kale roughly chopped
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients as listed. Heat the skillet/frypan over medium heat.
- Drain and rinse the beans. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a frypan/skillet over medium heat. Add the beans and cook for five minutes until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
- Peel and slice the onion into rounds. Add 3 teaspoons of oil to the frypan/skillet and slowly cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Turn up the heat and add half of the boiled water.
- Allow the water to evaporate, add two pinches of the salt just before it completely evaporates. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook the onions, stirring every minute or so, for a further 20 minutes or so until caramelised. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the miso paste to the remaining boiled water and stir well until dissolved. Set aside. Mince the garlic and chop the preserved lemons.
- Add a teaspoon of oil to the pan and then add the garlic to the oil. Add the kale, then the miso mixture and the preserved lemon. Stir everything well, allow the liquid to evaporate and then add back in the onions and beans, along with the remaining salt. Stir gently to avoid crushing the beans. Serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Leave a Reply