- Lima Beans
For this hearty dish, rich pork-infused butter beans are combined with tomatoes and kale, then topped with hard-boiled eggs and a drizzle of good olive oil.
By
J. Kenji López-Alt
J. Kenji López-Alt
Culinary Consultant
Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site. He is also a New York Times food columnist and the author of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science.
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Updated December 01, 2023
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Why It Works
- Brining the beans overnight has all the benefits of a standard soaking step: it shortens cooking time and ensures the beans cook uniformly. Brining has the added benefit of seasoning the beans all the way through and preserving their texture as they simmer.
- Salt pork (or leftover trimmings from roast pork) lends a savory richness to the beans.
- Adding a large can of tomatoes when the beans are tender increases acidity, which keeps them from softening further and gives the kale time to braise.
Afterroasting a suckling pig, I found myself in possession of far more pork bones and scraps than any reasonable person would know what to do with. Some of them went into a batch of bone broth. Other scraps turned into a stewed pork filling forarepas. But at the end of the week, I still had a good deal of flavorful fat and rind hanging out. What to do?
Well honestly,nothing goes with pork like beans.The greatest pork and bean dish I've ever had was in Toledo, Spain, where suckling pigs roasted in a wood-fired oven were served alongside a largecazuelafilled withjudias—a fat, white kidney-shaped relative of the butter bean or lima bean—cooked into a porky, tomatoey stew. Large and robust, they had a perfectly creamy texture and deeply porky flavor. Definitely something worth replicating at home.
"The key to perfectly textured beans is to brine them overnight."
You may not be able to find true judias around here, butlarge lima beans are of the same family and will work just fine.The key to perfectly textured beans is to brine them overnight. Despite the fact that some older books (and chefs) will tell you not to salt your beans until after they're cooked lest you end up with tough skins, salt actuallyhelpsbean skins soften properly.
Take a look at this picture which I'm stealing from my article onthe best chili everwithout my permission (I dare me to report it):
See how nice the ones on the right look compared to the left?Beans contain ions of magnesium and calcium in their skins that act as backup dancers—the supporting act that makes sure the skins stand tall. Soak them and cook them in salty water, and those magnesium and calcium ions decide to take a break, giving the role instead to their sodium ion counterparts.
And as anyone who's ever been to the ion ball can tell you,sodium ain't a dancer.With magnesium and calcium out of the way, the bean walls become much more tender, allowing them to soften at just about the same rate as the bean interiors.
So whatdoesinhibit beans from softening?Acid. The lower the pH of the cooking liquid, the slower the softening reactions become. It's for this reason that a dish like, say, Boston baked beans takes overnight for the beans to soften in the acidic, molasses, tomato, and vinegar-laced environment.
We can use this fact to halt our beans in their tracks as they cook. As soon as the beans are tender, I add a can of tomatoes to the mix, increasing acidity, and letting me simmer the beans a bit longer with a bit of roughly chopped braising greens. This also lets me cool the beans and reheat them a few days later to make the most of their flavor (they just get better and better as they sit).
If youstillhaven't had enough pork, you can serve the beans with a pork chop or perhaps a good sausage. I like serving mine with some perfectly boiled eggs drizzled with plenty of olive oil, good crunchy sea salt, and black pepper.
By the way—if you don't have suckling pig leftovers, a hunk of salt pork or even bacon will work just as nicely to flavor your beans.
January 2012
Recipe Details
Butter Beans With Kale and Eggs Recipe
Prep5 mins
Cook95 mins
Active30 mins
Brining Time8 hrs
Total9 hrs 40 mins
Serves4to 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound butter beans (large lima beans)
- Kosher salt
- 3 to 4-ounce salt pork (see note)
- 2 quarts low-sodium homemade or canned chicken broth
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 thyme sprigs
- 1 whole onion, split in half
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 rib celery
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes packed in juice, roughly chopped
- 4 cups roughly chopped kale, swiss chard, or curly spinach leaves
- 2 to 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Cover beans with 2 quarts cold water and add 2 tablespoons salt. Stir once to combine then set aside at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 18 hours.
Drain and rinse beans and add to a large saucepan. Add salt pork (see note), chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, onion, carrot, and celery. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a bare simmer and cook until beans are completely tender, about 1 hour, topping up with water as necessary (beans should be just poking through the top surface.
Discard bay leaves, thyme sprigs, onion, carrot, and celery. Remove pork and discard if desired or chop up and add back to pot. Add tomatoes and kale to pot, bring to a simmer, and cook, gently stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until thickened and stew-like, about 20 minutes longer.
Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve, topping with hard boiled eggs and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Notes
Instead of the salt pork, if you have leftover rind and bones leftover from roastedsuckling pigorpork shoulder, use them! Ham bones work great as well.
Make Ahead and Storage
The beans can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days and will improve with time. Reheat by microwaving or stir gently over medium heat, adding liquid as necessary.
Read More
- The Serious Eats Guide to Beans
- How to Cook Dried Beans
- Cheesy Mashed White Beans With Kale, Parmesan, and a Fried Egg
- Huevos Rancheros Verdes (Fried Eggs With Green Salsa and Refried Beans)