We eat all kinds of things for breakfast. Pancakes, waffles and French toasts—in all their various forms—make an appearance at least every other weekend, as do savoury porridges, quesadillas, honey chilli potatoes (brilliant alongside Turkish eggs), fritters, ratatouille and grilled vegetables. Salads too – both fruit and veg. Given this, classifying something under the breakfast category becomes especially confusing. Case in point – these beans.
Dried double beans are soaked overnight and pressure cooked until tender and yielding. They are then cooked together with zucchini and kale, and finished with lemon juice, zest, basil, and Parmesan. Topping them with boiled eggs makes the dish more substantial and somehow breakfast-y? I don’t know, but either way as long as it tastes good, does it really matter?
BEANS WITH ZUCCHINI, KALE & BOILED EGGS
Ingredients
- 200 grams dried double beans
- 500 grams zucchini, sliced into rounds
- 100 grams kale
- 4 boiled eggs
- 7 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 40 grams Parmesan, grated
- 50 grams basil, chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon chilli flakes
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Soak the beans in water overnight (for at least 6 hours). Add them to a pressure cooker/pot, cover with fresh water, and pressure cook until completely tender. Don't add salt at this stage.
- Once cooked, when you pinch a bean between your fingers it should fall apart very easily. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Roughly chop the beans and set aside.
- Boil the eggs to your liking. I like them somewhere between soft and hard - about 8 mins in boiling water.
- Remove the hard woody stems from the kale. Coarsely chop the leaves and set aside. Finely chop the stems.
- Add olive oil to a pot and sauté the garlic until very lightly browned. Add the zucchini and cook covered for 5 mins.
- Add the kale stems and cook for 2 mins. Tip in the kale leaves and the beans. Season with salt, pepper, and chilli flakes. Cover and cook for 5 mins. Add a bit of water and cook if it appears too dry.
- Take off the heat and stir in lemon zest, juice, most of the Parmesan and basil. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Transfer to a large plate and top with the boiled eggs. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. We ate them as is but it’ll also work as a side with grilled meats.
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