Lima Beans and Bacon on Toast
Here’s a new version of beans on toast, combining creamy lima beans with crisp bacon, cottage cheese and mustard. Accompanied by a fresh salad, this makes a fabulous meal that is ready to serve in about 15 minutes.
| Servings | Prep Time | Cook Time |
| 4people | 5minutes | 10minutes |
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4people | 5minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 10minutes |
- 1 tbsp margarine reduced-salt
- 4 strips bacon trimmed of visible fat and chopped
- 1 bunch green onions sliced
- 80 g arugula (or watercress) tough stalks removed, roughly chopped
- 2 cans lima beans drained and rinsed
- 50 g cottage cheese reduced-fat
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- pepper to taste
- 8 slices whole wheat bread thick
- Red Leaf Salad
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp clear honey
- pepper to taste
- 1 head red-leaved radicchio cut into thin wedges
- 1 head red leaf lettuce leaves separated
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Ingredients
Servings: people
Units:
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- To make the salad, put the oil, lemon juice and honey in a salad bowl and add pepper. Whisk together. Add the radicchio and lettuce to the bowl and set aside (do not toss yet).
- Preheat the broiler. Melt the margarine in a large nonstick frying pan until it begins to sizzle. Add the bacon and green onions, and cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the bacon begins to colour and the green onions are just tender.
- Add the arugula or watercress and cook for a few seconds, stirring, then add the lima beans, cottage cheese, mustard and pepper. Lower the heat and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture is hot.
- While the bean and bacon mixture is cooking, toast the slices of bread under the broiler or in a toaster. Spoon the lima bean and bacon mixture onto the hot toast. Quickly toss the salad, and serve while the lettuce is still crisp.
Per serving: 350 calories, 21 g protein, 18 g fat (4 g saturated) 26 mg cholesterol, 26 g carbohydrate, 8 g sugars, 9 g fibre, 903 mg sodium.
Lima beans have a buttery flavour. They offer plenty of dietary fibre, essential for a healthy digestive system. Trimmed of fat, lean bacon is a high-protein, low-fat ingredient that provides particularly useful amounts of thiamine which is essential for maintaining a healthy nervous system.
Variations: For pinto bean and blue cheese Italian rolls, place 2 cans pinto beans, 540 ml each, drained and rinsed, in a saucepan with 80 g crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, 2 tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt and 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese (or 2 extra tablespoons yogurt). Heat very gently, stirring frequently, until the cheese melts and the beans are hot. Stir in 1 tablespoon sundried tomato pesto and serve on crusty Italian rolls, split in half and lightly toasted. You can accompany the toasted rolls with an Italian-style fennel and arugula salad. For the dressing, whisk 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice and pepper to taste. Add 1 thinly sliced fennel bulb, 80 g arugula leaves, 1 thinly sliced small red onion and 30 g pitted black olives, and toss just before serving with the Italian rolls.
