I love fresh, green butter beans. What a summertime delight! Butter beans are a perennial favorite and a staple at most southern tables for its luscious creamy texture. My grandparent’s garden boasted many varieties of vegetables, but the butter bean was always the most coveted. Mimi and Papa would pick, shell, and cook them fresh during the summer and “put up” the excess to enjoy the rest of the year. Today most beans are shelled by machine, but anyone who grew up in the south and over a certain age has a shelling story to share. It usually includes a gaggle of women, a front porch, hours of laborious work, and plenty of church-related gossip.
Butter beans are so beloved because the season only lasts for a few weeks. Farmers harvest their entire crop at once, so stock up while you can! The next time you’re driving down a country road on a steamy summer day and spot someone selling vegetables from a cooler, do yourself a favor and pull over. If you’re lucky, you’ll find bags of fresh-picked butter beans inside. It’s not uncommon to have a Sunday supper consist only of vegetables that were harvested the same day. Butter beans accompanied by stewed potatoes, sliced tomatoes, creamed corn and plenty of white bread to sop it all up are what my childhood memories were made of.
But I’ll warn you, don’t make the mistake of confusing them with the lima. The two may be related, but they are not interchangeable, at least not to my husband. You will walk smack into a controversy; leading with your chin. This debate is sure to ruffle his feathers which could easily escalate into a Hatfield and McCoy-like feud. As with most southern methods, we have a bad reputation when it comes to preparing fresh vegetables. We tend to overcook them until they are falling-apart tender while adding too much salt for seasoning. David grew up eating beans in a buttery broth commonly known as a “pot licker.” And let me tell you, their savory, melt-in-your-mouth creaminess is unmatched. Tonight, we are having an early supper with our first batch of the season. There’s sweet tea, Sunbeam bread, and beans on the stove. You’re welcome to join, but please, whatever you do, don’t call them limas!
