Looking for a way to jazz up those canned beans? This recipe will not disappoint! The combination of miso paste and butter creates a luxurious velvety texture and sauce that gets absorbed into the rice. Raw crunchy beets get tossed in lots of lemon for a bright, tangy, crunchy topping to balance out the creamy beans.
Ingredient Highlight
Beans! are a great way to get protein along with a heavy dose of fiber, complex carbs, folic acid, iron, magnesium, and potassium to name a few. They are famous for making you fart (hehe) because of the specific sugars (oligosaccharides) they contain that we have trouble breaking down. Cooking your beans from scratch reduces the fart-causing substances!
Bonus! Beans combined with rice = a complete protein with all 9 essential amino acids.
Servings 4 People
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time 10 minutes Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, white/light green and dark green parts separated
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt divided
- 2 (15 oz) cans white beans (like cannellini), drained and rinsed
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 tbsp mellow white miso paste
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 raw beet, peeled, chopped into very small cubes (about 1 cup)
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 cups cooked rice (brown or white)*
- Sesame seeds (optional)
- Lemon wedges
Instructions
- (Make sure you have rice cooked for serving!)
- In a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil, white/light green parts of scallion, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook for 3 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
- Add the beans, water, and ½ teaspoon salt and simmer over medium/medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until the water has reduced a bit. Tilt the pan to remove some of the water (about ¼ cup), transfer to a small bowl, and mash it up with the miso paste into a smooth paste.
- Turn off the heat and add miso back to the pan along with the butter and stir everything together until smooth and butter has melted. You can also stir in some of those dark green scallions here, but save some for topping as well.
- In a medium bowl, add beets, lemon, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt and toss to coat.
- Serve the miso butter beans over warm rice and top with the lemony beets (get that tangy beet liquid on there too!), dark green parts of the scallions, sesame seeds (if using), and squeeze of lemon.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Cook 1-2 cups rice (brown or white)
- Make lemony beets
- Thinly slice 1 bunch scallions (separate white/light green from dark green)
Substitutions:
- To make vegan, substitute with vegan butter or just use olive oil.
- If you don’t have miso paste, try stirring in 1 tbsp tahini or almond butter along with 1 tbsp soy sauce.
- You could also use cooked beet, I just like the crunch of the raw beet. Easily substitute any other crunchy raw veggie for the beets (radish, cucumber, fennel, etc…) or just top with pickled red onions.
Storage:
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Warm up leftover beans. If serving over rice, you can stir in a splash of water to loosen them up and become more saucy. Top with lemony beets and scallions.
- Put leftover beans on toast!
- Also delicious topped with a fried or soft-boiled egg.