![Chicken Breasts With Lemon](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/11/08/dining/PF-Chicken-Breasts-with-Lemon/merlin_216285030_fd31034f-e5ef-429f-892d-9846cda8840b-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Creamy White Beans With Herb Oil
![Creamy White Beans With Herb Oil](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/07/11/dining/colu-creamy-beans-horizontal/colu-creamy-beans-horizontal-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
- ½cup roughly chopped chives
- ½cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
- ½cup tightly packed basil leaves
- ½cup olive oil
- Squeeze of lemon
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 2garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2(15-ounce) cans white beans, like butter beans or cannellini, rinsed and drained
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ½cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
- Flaky salt, for serving (optional)
For the Herb Oil
For the Beans
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the oil: In a food processor, combine chives, cilantro and basil, and pulse until finely chopped. Add olive oil, and pulse again until mixture is silky and emulsified. Transfer to a small bowl, stir in lemon juice and salt to taste. Set aside.
- Step 2
Prepare the beans: In a 10-inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until translucent, about 1 minute. Add beans to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the flavors have melded, about 2 to 3 minutes. With the back of a spoon or spatula, smash about ⅓ to ½ cup of the beans and stir until they are incorporated into the rest of the bean mixture. A good portion of the remaining beans should maintain their structure.
- Step 3
Add stock or water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until sauce becomes creamy and is reduced by about about half, about 1 to 2 minutes more. Smash additional beans and add a few more tablespoons of water, if needed, to reach desired consistency and stir again to combined.
- Step 4
Transfer beans to a bowl and swirl with herb oil on top. Season with flaky salt, if desired.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Yes canned beans are a convenience but taking the time to cook the beans by simmering them in water for an hour or so means you do without a great deal of unwanted sodium, get much better tasting beans, and voilà, you can use the beans' cooking water as the stock. As an alternative you could cook the beans ahead and freeze them until you're ready for this dish.
When I print a recipe, I wish I had the option of printing a picture of the prepared meal, too.
I think a simple jar of good pesto (or a good pesto recipe...) would be a suitable substitute for the herb oil.
Excellent, and came together quickly. However, no way this serves 4-6 people as an entree. I served it over bulgur as an entree, doubled the recipe and it served three of us.
This is a wonderful, clever recipe, since the beans themselves (some crushed) plus broth or water actually make a creamy sauce. Two things: 1) Herb oil ingredients include 1/2 cup packed parsley leaves, but the recipe neglects to mention them. I'm pretty sure you just throw them in the food processor along with the basil and chives, but still. 2) For beans, it says to cook the garlic until translucent, but garlic doesn't get translucent (unlike onions). Make it golden brown. Burns easily.
Superb and very easy dish that has become a regular for my wife and I. Combine with greens dressed with EVO and balsamic, a hunk of crusty bread and a glass of Pinot and you have a wonderful and quick vegetarian dinner. I now skip making the herb oil and just use a high-quality pesto...enjoy!
I added some grape tomatoes cut in half, sautéing them with the garlic, and used a pre-made pesto. Delicious and hearty!
This immediately became a staple in our house. I used all different combinations of herbs for the oil, depending on what's on hand. Last night was Thai basil, sage, and shallot instead of the chives.
Love this easy recipe. Took the time to cook the garlic over very low heat while making the herb oil, so it was soft and sweet (not golden). Definitely making this again. Leftover herb oil was great on scrambled eggs. Used parsley, a few sage leaves, and chives because it’s winter and the basil is not looking good.
Be brave. Think of the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz (he was the bravest of the bunch, just needed a medal :). Navy, Great Northern, and Cannellini have subtle enough differences that any would be (imho) fine in this recipe. Try two types and take note of the difference. Then the recipe will be yours. (on the side, i would take an extra day and soak dried beans rather than use canned beans, but there's another experiment for you: try both)
why can't you use the liquid from the cans as stock? and when you buy dried beans in a supermarket you have no idea how long they've been sitting on the shelf. dried beans do not last forever.
Excellent! Amazing that so much flavor is achieved so simply. The herb oil is much more than needed for the beans---but it makes a great marinade for chicken breasts or vegetables. I once made this with half chickpeas (opened the wrong can) and it was also delicious.
This is a great recipe, thank you! Two notes: we had no chives so substituted scallions, which worked fine. And don't plan on feeding four people with the recipe as a main course - three was a stretch.
Super recipe - turns beans into food for the gods. If you have a small cuisinart, use it to make the sauce; it's much easier than doing it in a big cuisinart. Also, make double the sauce - it is good on fish, chicken, in scrambled eggs, etc.
I added brown rice, and corn (to add up with the beans to a complete protein). I will make this again.
Quick, easy, versatile, and has lots of flavor.
This is the best. I'd love some suggestions on what to serve this with. I feel like I need a few other sides to make it a more exciting meal for guests.
I had a couple of tablespoons of the herb oil left over. Used it in some chicken broth with chopped leftover chicken, leftover fried rice, and a few of the butter beans from this dish. Sprinkled on red pepper flakes and lemon zest. Nice herby pho for lunch.
Has anyone had leftovers to say if it would do well reheated? I'd like to make it night before for following evening after work.
This is so delicious! I don't change a thing but I eat it with a Citrus Kale Salad. I even make extra of the Herb Oil and use on chicken.
It was delicious, but heavy on the oil. I would use 1/4 cup less next time.
Made exactly. Extremely delicious. Used two cups of beans I made. Had extra herb oil but so good for bread or tomato salad 1 1/2 c beans would be perfect for 2 with a green salad.
If one uses dried cannellini beans, which are dried kidney beans, make sure to cook the beans after soaking them to destroy a toxin naturally present in beans that according to the FDA can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. FDA says beans should be soaked in water for at least 5 hours, the water poured away, and the beans boiled in fresh water for at least 30 minutes. The FDA also says slow cookers don’t get hot enough to destroy the toxin in kidney beans.
I added spinach and jarred Italian tuna with jalapeño. Served with crust bread. It was so fast and fabulous. It feed two people with a small amount of leftovers.
I used about half a lemon’s worth of juice in the herb oil to cut a bit of the grassiness. Served with a loaf of sourdough, a salad, and roasted green beans and squash from my father in laws garden. A truly delightful summer dinner eaten alfresco; however, due to the texture of partially smooshed beans, they were only fully appreciated by myself, the eight year old, and the baby, although he eats anything within arms’ reach. Don’t let that stop you! Eating like a French peasant is such a vibe.
I think a better name for the dish would be "White Beans with Herb Garden Pesto" - that's essentially what you might pull from your summer garden to make a pesto for the beans.
I'm really impressed with how tasty this was, given its simplicity and use of canned beans. A keeper. Will definitely make again
Excellent filling recipe. I added a small handful of roasted pine nuts to the herb oil and had a bit of left over roast chicken I threw in. Definate keeper recipe.
This was excellent and easy. I used canned beans and did not add salt to the beans. I am glad I did not give in to the temptation to use store bought pesto sauce. The chives, cilantro and basil combo brought the dish to the next level. The salt added to this herb oil was enough for the whole dish. Very, very good.
Option: Rancho Gordo Corona Beans (online) were excellent in this dish. Saved the bean broth, used that in the recipe, and also sautéed a handful each of asparagus and snap peas before the garlic and beans. I mixed in all the herb oil with the beans and vegetables. Highly recommended.
Advertisement