Butter Beans and Field Peas
Two beans, garlic, lemon, and butter in one pot. A camp side that eats like a meal.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 4.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 96
- protein
- 18 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried butter beans, quick-cooking or pre-soaked | 3/4 cup | canned works if you are car-camping and don't mind the weight |
|---|---|---|
| Dried field peas | 3/4 cup | purple hull or black-eyed |
| Dried minced garlic | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried minced onion | 1/4 cup | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Butter | 3 tbsp | ghee or olive oil if the days are hot |
| Lemon juice powder | 2 tsp | or one real lemon in the cooler |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- At home, soak both beans overnight, then dehydrate them. They rehydrate in about fifteen minutes instead of two hours.
- In camp, bring 600 ml of water to a boil with the dried onion and garlic.
- Add the beans and peas. Simmer covered on the lowest flame you can hold, stirring now and then so nothing catches.
- Check at fifteen minutes. They should be soft but still whole. Add a splash of water if the pot goes dry early.
- Pull it off the heat. Stir in the butter, oregano, lemon powder, salt, and pepper.
- Let it sit two minutes so the starch thickens the liquid into something closer to a sauce.
The original is a cast iron dish built on fresh shell beans and homemade sausage, neither of which survives a pack. Dried beans do the same job if you soak and dehydrate them at home. That step is the whole recipe, really: it turns a two-hour simmer into fifteen minutes on a canister stove, which is the difference between possible and not.
The butter and lemon go in off the heat and they matter. Beans cooked in plain water taste like plain water. Fat gives the liquid body, and the acid cuts through it so the pot does not read as flat and starchy. Salt at the end too, since salting early keeps bean skins tough.
Packing
Beans, peas, onion, garlic, and oregano go in one bag. Butter rides in a screw-top jar. Lemon powder and salt in a small vial so you can adjust at the end.
Variations
- A hard salami or a foil packet of chorizo, sliced in at the start, stands in for the fresh sausage in the original.
- Cotija is dry enough to travel a day or two in cool weather. Crumble an ounce over the top.
- Fry an egg on top if you are car-camping with a skillet.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/oscar-diazs-butter-beans-and-field-peas-with-longaniza