Butter beans and bacon on toast

Method
Prep:35min  ›  Cook:15min  ›  Ready in:50min 

1. For the salad, put the oil, lemon juice and honey in a salad bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk together. Add the radicchio and Lollo Rosso to the bowl and set aside (do not toss yet).
2. Preheat the grill. Melt the butter in a large non-stick frying pan until beginning to sizzle. Add the bacon and spring onions, and cook over a moderate heat for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the bacon begins to colour and the onions are just tender.
3. Add the watercress and cook for a few seconds, stirring, then add the butter beans, curd cheese, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat and cook for 2 minutes, stirring all the time, until the mixture is piping hot.
4. While the bean and bacon mixture is cooking, toast the slices of bread under the grill. Spoon the bean and bacon mixture onto the hot toast. Quickly toss the salad, and serve.

Some more ideas

For vegetarians, you can leave out the bacon. Scatter 55 g (2 oz) chopped toasted walnuts over the salad, to replace the protein provided by the bacon. * Make borlotti bean and blue cheese ciabatta. Put 2 cans borlotti beans, about 410 g each, drained and rinsed, in a saucepan with 85 g (3 oz) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, 2 tbsp plain low-fat yogurt and 2 tbsp quark. Heat very gently, stirring frequently, until the cheese melts and the beans are hot. Stir in 1 tbsp red pesto and serve on ciabatta rolls, split in half and lightly toasted. Accompany with a fennel and rocket salad. For the dressing, whisk 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil with 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp orange juice and seasoning to taste. Add 1 thinly sliced fennel bulb, 85 g (3 oz) rocket leaves, 1 thinly sliced small red onion and 30 g (1 oz) stoned black olives, and toss just before serving with the ciabatta.

Plus points

As their name suggests, butter beans have a buttery flavour when cooked. They offer plenty of dietary fibre, essential for a healthy digestive system. * Trimmed of fat, lean back bacon is a high-protein, low-fat ingredient that provides particularly useful amounts of vitamin B1, which is essential for maintaining a healthy nervous system. * Watercress contains some powerful phytochemicals that appear to help protect the body against cancer.

Each serving provides

selenium * A, B1, C, niacin, copper, iron, zinc * B6, E, folate, calcium, potassium