White bean

About

This entry covers navy (also called haricot or Boston), cannellini, and lima (or butter) beans. Navy and cannellini beans are both varieties of the common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris; navy beans have a more pronounced flavor suited to classic pairings like tomato and garlic, while cannellinis are milder with a fattiness that works well when treated like lard or pork, and also pair well with garlic and paprika, or with sage and rosemary. Lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) have a distinctive potato-like flavor with a buttery, metallic tang, while the larger gigantes beans, a variety of the runner bean Phaseolus coccineus, have a richer flavor especially noticeable in their cooking broth.

Pairs well with white bean

• CiOrangeLarge, creamy Spanish gigantes beans have a rich flavor with an affinity for salmon or orange segments.
• FrTomatoThe classic British baked bean is essentially navy beans in tomato sauce; a rough approximation can be made by mixing navy or cannellini…
• SuGarlicGarlic is essentially all cannellini beans need -- simmer soaked beans with a halved head of garlic or a handful of unpeeled cloves, then…
• FrAppleApple and beans are paired in German cooking; a legume version of the classic apple-and-potato dish Himmel und Erde simmers chopped apples…
• EaMushroomWhite beans can be whisked into a light, frothy base somewhere between velouté and béchamel, as in a well-known cappuccino-style soup of…
• BrMisoShiro-an, a Japanese paste of sweetened white beans, is shaped into wagashi (sweetmeats) sometimes flavored with miso, pumpkin or green tea.
• SuCornSuccotash, a classic pairing of corn kernels and shelled beans with butter and cream, is best made fresh rather than canned.
• MuMustardA cauliflower-and-lima-bean gratin uses a mustard-spiked béchamel: cauliflower, sautéed onion and leek are combined with lima beans in a…
• CrRaisinGolden raisins and white beans (specifically lima beans) combine in a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey: soaked lima beans are cooked with fried…
• GrBuckwheatSimmering beans with buckwheat is a traditional combination from Italy's Amalfi Coast and from Liguria, where a mixed bean-and-grain dish…
• GrKaleKale gives bean broth a rough, bitter edge, while the broth in turn softens kale's tough texture into something silkier.
• GrSpinachA simple dish combining softened onion and garlic, white beans, chorizo and wilted spinach or other greens.
• GrSorrelA soup of white (navy) beans and sorrel is praised by food writer Elizabeth David, who notes there's no good substitute for sorrel's…
• EaKidney beanKidney beans and white (cannellini) beans are combined in three-bean salad mainly for visual contrast rather than flavor complement, since…