Butter beans are popular in Greece – where this dish hails from – and are typically baked alongside fragrant herbs and leafy greens. 

The humble white bean is not only creamy and delicious, but absolutely packed to the rafters with nutrients. What more could you want from a (not so) little legume? Butter beans are full of iron, folate and protein, which help give you energy, making this dish the perfect choice for replenishing your weary post-workout body.

Fennel, spinach and swiss chard add a hefty dose of vitamins A, C and K, which are important antioxidants that help your body fight damage from free radicals. 

Not bad for a tasty dinner, huh? If you can’t be bothered with the faff of soaking your beans the night before, you can skip straight the first recipe two instructions. 250g dried butter beans will give you around 500g cooked – which is around two standard tins (once you’ve drained away the water).

Serves: 4

250g (9oz) dried giant beans (butter beans)

1 bay leaf

250ml (9fl oz) olive oil, plus 3 tbsp

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 leek, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

200g (7oz) fennel bulb, roughly chopped

1 tsp ground coriander

2 garlic cloves, crushed

5 spring onions, including the green part, chopped

500g (1lb 2oz) spinach, trimmed and roughly chopped (or left whole if not too big)

200g (7oz) Swiss chard, trimmed and roughly chopped

Juice of 1 lemon (or more to taste)

2 tbsp chopped dill

2 tbsp chopped parsley

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

1. Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. 

2. The next day, drain and place in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, drain and cover again with plenty of fresh water. Return to the heat, add a little salt and the bay leaf, and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer for 40–60 minutes or until the beans are tender but not overcooked. Drain, reserving 160ml (5½fl oz) of the cooking water. 

3. While the beans are cooking, place a large pan over a medium-high heat. Add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the onion, leek and fennel. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the ground coriander. Cook, stirring, until everything begins to soften. Add the garlic and spring onions and stir for another minute. Mix in the spinach and chard, adding in batches in order to wilt them down before adding the next. Adjust the seasoning and spoon the contents of the pan into the base of a deep baking tin or dish, making sure you scrape everything from the pan. 

4. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/ 400°F/gas mark 6. Season the drained beans with salt and pepper and arrange them on top of the greens. Pour in the reserved cooking water from the beans and 80ml (2¾fl oz) of the olive oil, cover and bake in the oven for 20–30 minutes until the sauce has thickened. 

5. Uncover, mix in the remaining olive oil, the lemon juice and chopped herbs, then return to the oven, uncovered, for another 15 minutes or until they look almost caramelized. 

6. Remove from the oven, cover and let them rest for 15 minutes before serving. 

7. Serve with crusty bread and feta.

Recipe taken from Salt Of The Earth by Carolina Doriti (Quadrille, £26), out now. 

Image: Manos Chatzikonstantis