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Recipes June 23, 2025  | Servings: Serves 4–6 as a side dish | Prep Time: overnight | Cook Time: 2 hours

Beans and Greens with Sunflower Seed Pesto

As part of our rustic Italian spread, we serve crispy polenta, a rich tomato sauce, and these deeply satisfying beans and greens, finished with a sunflower seed pesto. The sunflower seeds give the pesto a smooth, nutty quality that aligns more naturally with the kind of food we make here, compared to the traditional pine nuts. It's also a more economical option with no compromise on flavor. This pesto is a great all-purpose condiment, but paired with creamy beans and earthy chard, it becomes something special—comforting, balanced, and just complex enough to keep you coming back for another bite.

For the Beans and Greens

  • 1 cup borlotti or cranberry beans, soaked overnight
  • ½ onion
  • 1 celery rib
  • 1 carrot
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • ½ bunch each thyme and rosemary
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 bunch chard

For the Sunflower Pesto

  • 2 cups basil leaves (about 4 bunches)
  • ¼ cup toasted sunflower seeds
  • Juice and zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 garlic clove
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Beans and Greens

  1. Drain the soaked beans and place them in a large pot with the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, herbs, and bay leaf. Cover with water by about an inch and bring to a boil.

  2. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered until the beans are tender—about 1½ hours, though this can vary.

  3. While the beans cook, strip the chard leaves from the stems. Chop the stems into ½-inch pieces.

  4. In a pan, sauté the chard stems in olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the leaves and cook for another 5–10 minutes, depending on how tender you like your greens.

  5. Once the beans are done, remove the cooked vegetables and herbs. Season the beans with salt and fold in the sautéed chard.

Sunflower Pesto

  1. Zest and juice the lemon.

  2. Toast the sunflower seeds until golden and fragrant.

  3. Pick the basil leaves from the stems.

  4. Blend all ingredients together, adjusting for texture—you can keep it slightly chunky or blend until smooth, both are delicious.

To Serve

Spoon the beans and greens into a bowl with a bit of their cooking liquid. Add a generous dollop of the pesto in the center.


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