Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn With Roasted Hazelnuts
Creamy beans, fresh courgettes (zucchini), juicy sweetcorn and crunchy roasted nuts combine to make a main dish that’s full of flavour and texture. It’s packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And the recipe also includes fifteen of your thirty weekly plant foods, making it the perfect recipe to improve or maintain a healthy gut.
It’s no secret that I love beans and pulses. Thank goodness for that as they make a vegetarian’s life so much easier. Although I often make dishes I’ve been cooking for years, I’m always looking for new ways to eat them. This recipe is my latest creation and it’s a good one.
Dive Right In
- Why Make Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn?
- Butter Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn
- Ingredients
- How To Make Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn
- Other Butter Bean Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
Why Make Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn?
If you’re after something a bit different, this dish of beans, courgettes and sweetcorn is a new and delicious recipe. It’s also vegan, naturally gluten-free and encourages healthy eating as well as a bit of creativity in the kitchen.
- Flavour Explosion – Thai green curry paste and coconut milk bring a burst of flavours to this already tasty dish. Courgettes and beans both absorb flavours well whilst retaining their own unique taste. Roasted nuts and the sweet taste of corn add additional pops of flavour.
- Good For Your Gut – Many of us in the West don’t get enough fibre in our diets. Fibre is crucial for gut health and thus overall body health. This dish of butter beans, courgettes and sweetcorn is packed with various types of fibre. (Ref: BMJ (a link to a .pdf file is present.))
- Nutrient-Rich and Balanced: This dish combines a variety of vegetables and nuts, providing a well-rounded mix of essential vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. Courgettes are low in calories but high in antioxidants and butter beans are a great source of protein and fibre. Sweetcorn also contains plenty of fibre as well as vitamin C. As for hazelnuts, they provide healthy fats and additional protein.
- Plant Based – As long as you use a curry paste that’s free of shrimp paste or fish sauce, this dish is naturally vegan. It’s also gluten-free, which makes it suitable for people with various dietary restrictions.
- Seasonal and Fresh – This recipe takes advantage of fresh, summer produce and the abundance of courgettes you can find at this time of year.
Butter Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn
Summer is such a good time to cook, assuming it’s not too hot that is. There’s so much delicious veg to choose from. As courgettes are a favourite with us, I try and create at least one new courgette recipe a year.
Smashed whole garlic cloves lose their pungency when cooked this way and become sweetly sticky. They are the treasure to be hunted out.
It’s best made not long before you want to serve it, though it will keep warm in its lidded pan for a while. It doesn’t need to be served hot, but warm is good. Having said that, leftovers will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.
Serve with brown rice, quinoa or whole grain of choice. I like it best served with a mix of white and red quinoa, which gives a lovely colour contrast to the butter beans. Annoyingly, when I came to make this recipe for the images, I found I’d run out of quinoa.
Ingredients And Substitutions
There are a fair few ingredients in this butter bean, courgette and sweetcorn dish, but don’t let that put you off. It’s quite easy to make and super delicious as well as nutritious.
Butter Beans
Hooray for the humble bean. Pulses are particularly good for the gut microbiome. They’re full of fibre and act as a prebiotic which helps to diversify the number of good bacteria we all need. They’re good for lots of other things too, so go get your butter beans now.
You can use tinned, jarred or dried to make this bean, courgette and sweetcorn dish. Cooking your own from dried produces the best butter beans. But this takes time and planning. I manage it sometimes, but not that often.
For convenience my preference is for the jarred and ready salted ones. The butter beans are more expensive than tinned, but they’re so much nicer – both in taste and texture. I tend to buy several jars when they’re on special offer in the supermarkets.
If you use tinned beans, drain off the liquid and rinse them well. I find the flavour of the tinned liquid taints the food slightly. I don’t bother with the jarred ones, I just spoon the beans out and don’t worry if some of the liquid comes along too.
Courgettes
We don’t manage to grow much veg these days, but we do always try and grow courgettes. To be honest I’d be lost without them, they are such good value. They’re easy to grow, prolific producers, simple to prepare and taste good. What’s not to love?
You can use any courgettes for this recipe, but look for firm ones of a medium size. They can go a bit woolly as they get larger. If you can get two different types, it looks more interesting. I’ve used a yellow one and a romanesco, both harvested from the garden.
If you’re after more courgette recipes, hop over to this post for all the courgette recipes you will ever need. I better make sure I add this one in.
Greens
You need soft leaved greens for this recipe as the cooking time is minimal. Suitable ones include: chard, beetroot tops, spinach, cima di rapa (turnip tops), orach, nettles, fat hen. I used beetroot tops this time.
If the stalks aren’t tough, use those as well. They can go in at the same time as the courgettes.
If you prefer, you could leave out the greens altogether and serve some as a side dish instead. In this case you can use any sort of greens you like.
Hazelnuts
Roasted hazelnuts are the icing on the cake. They provide another flavour profile and crunch as well as additional nutrition. They smell amazing whilst they’re roasting too.
Although you can buy ready roasted hazelnuts, they’re rarely as good as roasting your own, so I recommend making that extra effort if you can.
Hazelnuts with skins generally keep better than ready skinned ones. So again I’d recommend using those, even though it takes a few more minutes to remove them.
Liquids
To make this recipe for butter bean, courgettes and sweetcorn, you need something to make it saucy. It’s not meant to be a dry dish. For this I’ve used flavours to help give the veg a lift. These are: coconut milk, tamari and lime juice.
If you end up using a different green paste to Thai green curry paste, you may find lemon is more appropriate than lime.
Sweetcorn
It’s nice to use corn on the cob at this time of year. If it’s not already shucked, do that first. You can then either cook it under or over a grill, or cook it in an air fryer until slightly charred.
However, if you’d rather use frozen or tinned, that’s fine too.
Other Veg
Onions are always good for flavour, so it almost goes without saying that you need one of those. For much the same reason you’ll find garlic in the recipe.
I’ve also included carrots. You can’t have too much veg after all. They give additional colour, flavour and nutrition.
Thai Green Curry Paste
You may have noticed, I forgot to add the Thai green curry paste to the ingredients image above. Sorry about that.
You can use a commercial curry paste for this or a homemade one. The main thing to remember is though that you need a vegetarian version. In other words, if you buy it, ensure there is no shrimp paste or fish sauce mentioned on the ingredient list.
I used my homemade Thai green curry paste.
However, this butter bean, courgette and sweetcorn recipe is really adaptable. If you don’t fancy Thai flavours, use the green paste of your choice. Other suitable ones I can think of are:
- Chermoula – A relatively mild North African spicy green sauce made with parsley, coriander leaves, ginger and lemons.
- Green Harissa – A variation of the traditional North African red harissa. It’s made with green herbs, chillies, pickled lemons, cumin, coriander, garlic and olive oil.
- Green Tikka Masala – An Indian curry paste containing coconut, coriander leaves, curry leaves and various spices.
- Pesto – The classic green sauce we all know and love. If you want to keep the dish plant based, use a vegan one or make your own and just leave out the cheese. I have any number of pesto recipes here on Tin and Thyme, but here’s a vegan one made with basil and walnuts.
- Zhug (or zhoug) – A hot herb sauce from the Yemen made from coriander leaves, green chilli peppers, garlic, cumin and cardamom. It’s best to add this one after cooking. Try my homemade zhoug recipe.
How To Make Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Cook Sweetcorn
It’s a good idea to get the sweetcorn cob cooking before you start the main dish. The corn is scattered over the beans and courgettes at the end, but you’ll need time for the cob to cool a bit before shucking. I’ve burnt my fingers too many times.
Shuck the leaves and silk from the cob, if necessary. Grill or air fry the sweetcorn until soft and slightly charred. Set aside to cool slightly.
Top Tip
If using frozen or tinned, fry the kernels over a moderate heat in a lightly greased frying pan until cooked and slightly charred. Make sure you drain tinned ones well before cooking.
Step 2. Roast Nuts
Roast the hazelnuts in a hot oven or air fryer until golden and fragrant. They only take a few minutes. Be warned, the scent of them roasting will make you hungry.
Leave them to cool, then rub off the skins between your fingers or with a paper towel. It doesn’t matter if some of the skins are still left on, so don’t try too hard. This should be a job of seconds.
Roughly chop or crush the hazelnuts with a pestle and mortar. Set aside until needed.
Top Tip
You can do this step a few hours before the nuts are needed if you like, or even the day before.
Step 3. Fry Veg
Meanwhile, half the onion and slice the two halves, creating half moon shapes. Using a wide lidded pan, fry the onion in the oil over a moderate heat for a couple of minutes or until translucent.
Cut the carrots into chunky (ish) julienne pieces. Add them to the pan and fry for three minutes, giving an occasional stir.
Cut the courgettes in half, then slice thickly. If the courgettes are particularly large, quarter them. Add to the pan together with the garlic cloves and fry for three more minutes. Again, stir occasionally.
To smash the garlic for this recipe, just peel the cloves, lay a sturdy knife over the top and press down hard with your hand. It doesn’t matter if the cloves are slightly broken, but you want them in large lumps.
Add the Thai green curry paste, or alternative (see ingredients section) and stir-fry for a minute.
Step 4. Add Remaining Ingredients
Add the butter beans, coconut milk and tamari and give a good stir. Then clamp the lid on the pan. If you have any stalks attached to the greens, chop them up and add those in too. Simmer for eight minutes.
Whilst everything’s cooking wash and roughly chop the greens. Add them to the pan after the eight minutes has passed. With the lid back on, simmer for a further three minutes or until the greens have wilted.
The carrots and courgettes should be cooked, but still have a bit of bite in them. In other words you don’t want mushy courgettes.
If it looks as though things are drying out at any point, add a dash of water. The mix should be saucy, but not watery. If the mix is too wet, smash some of the beans and stir. This will thicken things up.
Step 5. Finishing Touches
Taste test for seasoning. Depending on whether you used jarred beans or not and how salty your green paste is, you may well need to add a pinch or more of salt.
Remove from the heat and squeeze in the lime juice. Give a really good stir.
Either transfer to a serving bowl or divide into individual plates or bowls.
Using a sharp knife, shave the corn kernels off the cob and scatter them over the beans. Finally, scatter the crushed hazelnuts over the sweetcorn.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, if wished. Serve with brown rice, quinoa, fonio or whole grain of choice.
Top Tip
If using a different type of green paste, lemon may be more appropriate than lime.
Other Butter Bean Recipes You Might Like
- Bunny chow: butter bean curry in a bread bowl
- Creamy butter beans with mushrooms & spring greens
- Greek butter beans in tomato sauce
- Green dip
- Squash & butter bean stew
- White bean salad: Spanish style
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this dish of beans, courgettes and sweetcorn, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for using beans or courgettes?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, tag me @choclette8 so I can see them.
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If you’d like more courgette recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn. PIN IT.
Beans, Courgettes And Sweetcorn With Roasted Hazelnuts
Ingredients
- 1 corn on the cob
- 2 tbsp neutral cooking oil (I used sunflower oil)
- 1 onion small to medium – sliced
- 1 carrot medium to large, or two small carrots
- 2 courgettes (zucchini) medium
- 2 clove garlic smashed
- 1 tbsp Thai green curry paste make sure it’s a vegetarian / vegan version – or swap for green paste of choice
- 200 g cooked butter beans (lima beans) 400g tin – drained and rinsed (I used ⅓ of a 700g jar)
- 133 ml tinned coconut milk ⅓ of a 400 ml tin
- 1 tsp tamari (affiliate link) or your favourite soy sauce.
- 200 g soft leaved greens of choice see note below (I used beetroot tops)
- ¼ tsp sea salt (optional)
- ½ lime juiced
- 25 g hazelnuts roasted
- coriander leaves (cilantro) to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Grill or air fry the sweetcorn until soft and slightly charred. 15 minutes in the air fryer at 180℃ (350℉) does it nicely.1 corn on the cob
- Meanwhile, using a large lidded pan, fry the onion in the oil over a moderate heat for a couple of minutes or until translucent.2 tbsp neutral cooking oil, 1 onion
- Cut the carrots into chunky (ish) julienne pieces. Add them to the pan and fry for three minutes, giving an occasional stir.1 carrot
- Cut the courgettes in half, then slice thickly. If the courgettes are particularly large, quarter them. Add to the pan together with the smashed garlic cloves and fry for three more minutes. Again, stir occasionally.2 courgettes (zucchini), 2 clove garlic
- Add the Thai green curry paste, or alternative (see notes) and stir-fry for a minute.1 tbsp Thai green curry paste
- Add the butter beans, coconut milk and tamari then clamp the lid on the pan. If you have any stalks attached to the greens, chop them up and add those in too. Simmer for eight minutes.200 g cooked butter beans (lima beans), 133 ml tinned coconut milk, 1 tsp tamari (affiliate link)
- Whilst it's cooking wash and roughly chop the greens, then add them to the pan. With the lid back on, simmer for a further 3 minutes or until the greens have wilted. The carrots and courgettes should be cooked, but still have a bit of bite in them.200 g soft leaved greens of choice
- If it looks as though things are drying out at any point, add a dash of water. The mix should be saucy, but not watery. If the mix is too wet, smash some of the beans and stir. This will thicken things up.
- Taste test for seasoning. Depending on whether you used jarred beans or not and how salty your green paste is, you may well need to add a pinch or more of salt.¼ tsp sea salt
- Remove from the heat and squeeze in the lime juice. Give a really good stir.½ lime
- Either transfer to a serving bowl or individual plates or bowls. Shave the corn kernels off the cob with a sharp knife and scatter them over the beans. Roughly chop or crush the hazelnuts and scatter those over the sweetcorn.25 g hazelnuts
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, if wished.coriander leaves (cilantro)
This reminds me of an Asian version of succotash, which I love. What a wonderful recipe to include curry, beans and zucchini, all my favorites!
Ooh, succotash is a fabulous word. I’ll have to go and find out what it is now.
Such an easy summer veggie dinner! I love using beans for vegan protein once in a while and they were delicious here with the crunchy hazelnuts.
Dinners need to be easy in summer I reckon. Good to hear you enjoyed the vegan beans. The hazelnuts add a nice additional level of flavour and texture.
This recipe is perfect for the upcoming sweet corn season! Cannot wait to try it out!
Yes, it’s particularly good if you can get hold of fresh sweetcorn.
A delightful combo—crunchy, fresh, and packed with flavor. A satisfying side dish that everyone at the table enjoyed!
Glad you enjoyed my beans, courgettes and sweetcorn Ana. Thanks for letting us know.