I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again. I love a good veggie side dish. I love how it can really bring a meal together. Gone are the days where the veggies need to be the after thought.
I had a fabulous dinner at Armorica in Surry Hills recently and their broccolini side dish was the star of the meal.
Take this simple bowl of pan fried butter beans from a tin, with zucchini and green beans. Elegant in it’s simplicity but with so many fresh and zingy flavours – chilli, garlic, capers and lemon, it really does pack a punch and works wonders as part of an Italian feast.
I’ve become somewhat obsessed with butter beans of late. I love how you can make meals out of them in literally minutes. A tin of drained butter beans cooked quickly in some olive oil with a nice seasoning of salt and pepper is not only incredibly more-ish, but it’s healthy and convenient, not to mention – economical.
I’ve used walnuts here too but go ahead and replace these with almonds or pine nuts if you prefer. Same goes with the zucchini and green beans. Stir fried kale, capsicum, squash or broccolini would work well here too. You’ll also notice how I’ve loaded the finished dish up on top of a pile of baby spinach. I do this often. Load the plate up with baby spinach as the base for a meal in order to “up the vege”. Corks will often comment – “Oh it’s great – you get through the pile of kale and then you get to the layer of baby spinach underneath!” Insert laughing emoji here.
So if you’re a butter bean newbie, I strongly suggest you start your “bean train” journey here.
butter beans with zucchini, green beans + walnuts
Serve this dish up as part of an Italian long lunch. Think some humble tomato pasta, pizza of your choice and chunks of roasted sweet potato. Be sure to check out my recipes for homemade pizza dough and pasta dough too.
Lo’s tips
Go ahead and add some anchovies with the garlic if you like and serve with some crumbled feta or grated parmesan cheese and/or some olives too. There really are no rules here. Have a play around and make the dish your own.
1 x large zucchini, cut into rounds
A handful of green beans, ends removed
1 x 400 gram tin of butter beans, drained
A handful of walnuts
A sprinkling of capers
1 -2 x garlic cloves, minced
Half a lemon, sliced into rounds
Dried chilli flakes
Fresh parsley and or basil (if you’re lucky enough to have it)
Extra virgin olive oil
Caramelised balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
- Take a large non stick fry pan, adding a dash of olive oil. Throw in your zucchini and green beans and cook over a high heat for a couple of minutes to give them a bit of a head start.
- Now throw in your butter beans and give it all a good seasoning with salt and freshly cracked pepper. Cook, stirring, for another couple of minutes until everything looks all nicely browned and the beans have become all lovely and gnarly. We want the green beans to still hold their crunch.
- It’s time to go in with your walnuts, capers, garlic, chilli and lemon. Stir fry it all around adding some fresh parsley and or basil right at the end. You don’t need these to cook for too long, it’s all a bit of a quick dish to make if you have a nice hot flame.
- Take a round serving dish and pile on some baby spinach leaves before pouring the beans out over the top and drizzling it all with some good quality extra virgin olive oil and a touch of caramelised balsamic vinegar (vinegar not pictured as I had run out. Eek I know- tragic).
- Serve straight away.
If you happen to make this dish, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to comment below.
lo's kitchen 
Tonight we were having plane Jane sausages and veggies so I added this as a side dish. Was so tasty will definitely make again!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh thank you so much for taking the time to comment Jill. I’m glad you’ve stumbled across something a little different. Xx
LikeLike
Thanks for another great recipe! i made this for dinner last night, hoping for lunch leftovers! Have to make again tonight! Loved it, so simple and fast and tasty. i don’t often add walnuts but will be going forward – they add a great flavour.
LikeLike