Tim Scallon/ Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
During my academic training as a nutrition student, I had the good fortune to work in a hospital kitchen. For those who have never worked in institutional foodservice, the work is vigorous. The next meal deadline is always looming and everyone is on their feet for most of the day. Although the work was demanding, it was a good place to experience a team working together and a genuine family environment. The real champions were the cooks. No chefs in this facility, these strong women turned out hundreds of meals per day serving both patients and cafeteria patrons. And this provided an excellent learning opportunity for a young prospective dietitian who would go on to cultivate his own food service team in a larger hospital. It was here that I learned to appreciate the southern cuisine that was part of my upbringing. This hospital kitchen produced fresh baked buttered yeast rolls every day, homemade biscuits every morning. Scratch cooking that included turnip greens, succotash, fried chicken, purple hull peas, fresh cornbread and butter beans was the rule of the day.
Later in my foodservice career, I learned that there is some confusion about butter beans. Some people think of lima beans as butter beans. But the butter beans that I enjoyed in those early days were not large white limas or small white limas or baby green limas, they were called speckled butter beans. This is an important distinction! If people don’t know the difference between speckled butter beans and lima beans, their life could take a wrong turn and they wouldn’t even know it. Speckled butter beans are brown and are the size and shape of small lima beans. Their taste is milder than the lima bean and when cooked they absorb flavors and become tender and creamy, hence the name. However, upon further reading I learned that butter and lima beans are known by different names in different regions of the world. In the Southern US and the UK these beans regardless of size or color are known as butter beans. Elsewhere in the US, the green and white varieties are called lima beans. But in Mississippi, a variety was developed that came to be known as speckled butter beans. And they were identified as such on package labels that I stocked in that hospital kitchen so many years ago. For this reason, I can attest with confidence that white limas or baby green limas are not speckled butter beans.
Most Southern recipes for speckled butter beans call for some type of cured pork such as fat back, ham hock or bacon. And while these pork ingredients deliver intense flavor, they also bring with them a high saturated fat and sodium load. If we substitute a lean pork such as a center cut pork chop (not cured with sodium compounds), we still get the good pork flavor without the fat and sodium.
My recipe for Pork and Butter Bean Stew is a hearty mix of fresh pork, vegetables and spices in a savory gravy that calls back to the delights of Southern cuisine while yet remaining faithful to lighter and healthier fare. For those who are not familiar with my recipes, you will notice the relative absence of salt in the ingredients. My early kitchen mentors would have chastised me for not adding a teaspoon or more of salt to this recipe. But I have learned that while salt does much to amplify flavors, if used too liberally it can dominate and even cover up subtle background flavors. Health issues aside, it seems the most prudent course is to use minimal salt in cooking and allow individual diners to salt to their tastes at the table.
So, the next time you are at a party and the subject of butter beans comes up, pull out your copy of this article and help those who may have lost their way to know the truth about butter beans.
Tim Scallon is a registered dietitian nutritionist with years of experience practicing nutrition therapy in local hospitals and clinics, teaching nutrition and developing healthy recipes.
Pork & Butter Bean Stew
Serving Size: 1/10 of recipe, Serves 10
Ingredients:
- ½ cup flour
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp coarse ground black pepper
- Pinch of salt
- 4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 16 oz lean pork loin, (or 3 5 oz center cut chops) cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 carrots diced
- 2-3 Cloves garlic minced
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 2-3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 14 oz can diced tomatoes, no added salt, undrained
- 12 oz package frozen speckled butter beans, thawed
- ½ cup fresh parsley diced
- 2 tbs Dried basil
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat while rolling the pork in the flour mixture. Sauté the pork until lightly browned ~8 minutes. Set the meat aside.
In the same skillet, add the remaining oil and sauté the onions and carrots until the onions are soft. As the onions sauté, deglaze the pan by scraping up the browned bits of flour stuck to the bottom. Stir in the garlic and celery and sauté 2 minutes more. Add the flour that was used to coat the pork and stir until it is absorbed. Gradually add in 2 cups of the broth stirring until smooth.
Return the pork to the pot. Add the tomatoes, butter beans, herbs and spices. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered 20-25 minutes or until the beans are tender, stirring occasionally from the bottom. Add more broth as needed for the desired thickness. Serve with buttered cornbread.
Exchanges per serving:
1 Lean Meat, 1 Starch, 2 Vegetables, 1 Fat
Nutrients per serving:
Calories: 237; Calories from fat: 45; Total Fat: 9g; Cholesterol: 30mg; Sodium: 472mg; Total Carbohydrate: 27g; Dietary Fiber: 4g; Protein: 15g