A few weeks ago I ordered Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook, Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi. In addition to being one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have ever seen, the recipes are inspired. In an era where recipes tend to feel like an ever-so-slightly-modified version of someone else’s work, his recipes immediately struck me as original. And it was all food I wanted to eat. The evening the book arrived I stayed up until midnight flipping through the pages, reading the recipes, taking in the photos, and making notes on what I would make first.
Ottolenghi, a celebrated London-based chef and lover of meat, was asked to write a column in the UK’s Guardian called “The New Vegetarian” back in 2006. This book is a culmination of those recipes and a few more. Inspired by his roots in Palestine and Israel and extensive travel, this is a cookbook infused with elements of food and culture from around the world.
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 cans (15 ounces each) butter beans, drained
- 1 bunch scallions, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch lengths
- 1 large garlic clove, cut into coins and smashed
- 5 ounces (5 to 6 packed cups) arugula
- 3 to 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh dill
- Sumac (optional)
- 1 lemon, for squeezing
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1 teaspoon of the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add ⅓ of the beans and cook until spotty brown on both sides, about 2 minutes. Pour into a medium bowl and repeat process twice more with remaining butter, oil, and beans.
- Add scallions, garlic, and arugula as the last batch of beans finishes; cook, stirring constantly, until just wilted.
- Return remaining beans to the pan; remove from heat, and let stand until warm. Sprinkle with cheese, dill, optional sumac and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Serve immediately with additional lemon wedges.
My friend who has become vegan for health reasons sent me this gorgeous book – I love it!
when you state “goat cheese” in a recipe is there a particular variety that you go to? I always immediately think feta, but there are a lot of varieties.
For a recipe like this, Mary, I use the readily available fresh goat cheese logs. These days they’re selling crumbled goat cheese in containers, which are convenient but more expensive.
Would feta work instead of goat cheese?
Feta would absolutely work instead of goat.
Oh. My. Stars. This is going on the menu right this second. Love it!
Um….what is sumac? spice, green?
Hey Suzanne,
I didn’t know what sumac was either until last Spring when we spent a week in and around Israel. Here’s what Wikipedia says, and I couldn’t describe it better myself. “The fruits (drupes) of the genus Rhus are ground into a deep-red or purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste to salads or meat.[5] In Arab cuisine, it is used as a garnish on meze dishes such as hummus and is added to salads in the Levant. In Iranian (Persian and Kurdish) cuisine, sumac is added to rice or kebab. In Turkish cuisine, it is added to salad-servings of kebabs and lahmacun. Rhus coriaria is used in the spice mixture za’atar.”
Although sumac is tart, it’s flavor is unique. I’d just squeeze in extra lemon if I couldn’t find it. The Larder may carry it. If not, they’ll surely be able to get it for you. Good luck and great to hear from you!
Thank you Pam! I had no idea – and now I don’t feel quite so silly for needing to ask the question. The recipe sounds delicious. Best to you and the family.
Interesting. Nothing like I’ve seen before, right. I just put my library’s copy on hold.
We love sumac. I forget how we discovered it, but my husband puts it on lots of stuff – steamed veggies, eggs, potatoes, etc.
Just found your recipe while searching butter bean vegetarian main dishes, made it tonight. Loved it……already in the coveted recipes cookbook! I just served fresh tomatoes along side.