Butter Beans 500g - Daily Bread
	BUTTER BEANS Butter Beans (so called because of their pale creamy colour) are a large flat variety of the lima bean which originated from Lima in Peru and has been discovered in pre-Inca tombs from about 5000 B.C. They have a soft floury texture and a smooth succulent flavour and retain their shape well when cooked. Not so the tinned variety which tend to disintegrate when more than warmed up. Nutritional value 100 g (3.5oz) cooked butter beans contain: Protein 19.7g Calories 120 Fibre 4.4g Calcium 84mg Iron 5.2mg Vitamin A 30 I.U. B1 (thiamine) 0.46 mg B2 (riboflavin) 0.16mg Niacin 1.8mg Vitamin C 1 mg Although flourishing in tropical conditions (they are the main legume crop of tropical Africa) nobody has persuaded them to grow in colder climates. In the U.K. and Europe imported lima beans have long been popular as ‘butter beans’ in canned, dried or frozen form. Those at present sold at Daily Bread are grown in California. Butter beans should be soaked overnight and any excess water thrown away. Cook in a saucepan with a lid 1 cup of beans to 2 ½ cups of water. Bring to the boil and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Add salt near the finish. If added earlier it can toughen the skins. A few coriander or fennel seeds added to the cooking water helps to lessen flatulence. In a pressure cooker 1 ½ to 2 cups of water, bring to full pressure and cook for about ½ hour. To test when cooked press between thumb and middle finger, the bean should be tender but not mushy. Butter beans are tasty in salads, pates, soups and almost any savoury dish. Although not a complete protein, if different sources are mixed in the same meal the deficiency in one food is supplemented by that in others and the two sources of protein when eaten together are greater than if eaten separately i.e. Grains (cereal, rice and pasta) plus pulses (beans, peas and lentils) and seeds (sesame and sunflower) plus pulses. Butter beans can be sprouted.