This is probably going to end up in an upcoming Daily Plate column, but I wanted to share one of my new favorite recipes with you.

While I use beans and legumes all the time in recipes (soups, stews, black bean brownies…), I really hadn’t had butter beans until I tried them in a dish with tomato sauce and feta at Snack Taverna last month. I just had to try recreating it at home, with a few tweaks of course—I added olives and swapped in goat cheese for feta.

This makes for a great side dish or lunch. I served it with whole wheat couscous and a side of kale chips, but I imagine it would be excellent over pasta or alongside pita and hummus.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 5 oil-cured black olives, chopped
• 1 ½ c tomato sauce (homemade or jarred)
• 1 15-oz can butter beans, rinsed
• ¼ c goat cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

Directions:

1       Add oil to skillet or pan over medium heat. Sauté garlic until soft.

2       Add olives, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes and beans. Switch heat to low and allow to simmer 5-10 minutes.

3       Top with a sprinkle of goat cheese and serve on top of whole wheat couscous.

Serves 4