Food

Which Canned Butter Beans Are Best?

Canned beans are a go-to for me, especially during the summer. They’re convenient, ready to eat, and protein-dense. Perfect for a no-cook meal on a hotter-than-hot day.

My new recipe for Big Bean Ceviche is a ripe example of romantically marrying this pantry stle with seasonal produce. Where traditional ceviche is made with raw seafood or fish cooked in the acid of citrus juice, this recipe instead opts for a can of plump white beans. They’ll hpily marinate in the tangy tomato sauce before being scooped up with tortilla chips. Not only do the beans make this dish vegan, meaning more folks are likely to be able to enjoy it, but the absence of seafood means it can sit out for longer, without fears of it spoiling in the sun.

Perhs you’re familiar with cevichocho, a variation on Ecuadorian seafood ceviche, made with an Andean variety of lupini beans, or chochos, cooked from dry (marinated in a citrus juice with chopped vegetables and often served with plantain chips). The vibe here is similar, but with a punchier sauce, and requires no par-cooking, thanks to the canned butter beans.

Depending on where you live, you may also know these meaty white beans as large lima beans. With a creamy texture, dramatic size, and (you guessed it) buttery flavor, they’re a fantastic alternative to smaller white beans like cannellini or navy beans. While it’s relatively simple to find dry butter beans, or similar varieties such as gigantes or corona beans, these options require a lengthy pre-soak and cook time. Luckily, there are a handful of affordable canned options available at most supermarkets. Here are the brands I’d recommend:

A full inch in length, Grace butter beans (made with butter beans, water, salt, and ascorbic acid, an additive used to prevent discoloration and preserve flavor) are the most plump and creamy canned butter bean I’ve tried. They’re sold nationally, though not quite as common as a brand like Goya. The standard can is 14.1 oz., which is a little less than most canned beans, but the high quality is worth it. They’d be my number one choice for the Big Bean Ceviche, even with the smaller can than the recipe calls for.

The biggest butter beans available at the supermarket (most are over 1″ long), Goya’s butter beans are nicely plump. The 15.5-oz. cans are one of the most widely available brands nationally sold. Each can contains butter beans, water, salt, and preservatives calcium chloride and calcium disodium EDTA (which act as firming and color-retention agents). Given the preservatives, they should probably be a little more uniform in quality and texture, but they have a rich flavor and great visual peal. I’d grab them for any recipe that calls for butter beans, including my vegetarian ceviche.

Jarred, if you can find ’em

Though they’re less common than cans, jarred butter beans can be very good. They’re often more firm and creamy, stored in a lighter, less starchy liquid. Some specialty stores will sell brands like Belazu and El Navarrico; in the UK, Bold Bean Co. is a fantastic option.

This thrifty riff hinges on canned butter beans and a juicy grated tomato marinade.

View Recipe

Food

37 Summer Desserts Thatll Sweeten Even the Hottest Days

Open the summer desserts file, and you’ll find everything from easy no-bake desserts and frozen treats to fruit-packed pies, cobblers, and icebox cakes. Hot summer days call for low-effort sweet treats—but we’ve also included some special-occasion showstoppers for celebratory nights.

These summer desserts make the most of the season’s fleeting pleasures: ripe berries, stone fruit at its peak, bright and sunny citrus, cold cream, and crisp textures meant for hot evenings. Some recipes come together in minutes with little more than a knife and a freezer, while others are built for birthdays, dinner parties, and long holiday weekends. Whatever your pleasure, there’s a dessert here for you that feels distinctly suited to summer.

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Food

The Best Bars in Atlanta Right Now

Don’t Miss: Written in chalk above the bar, the cocktail menu shifts seasonally, but the Watermelon Man (a Negroni-esque tipple featuring the summertime fruit and basil), is a great example of how this new-school Inman Park haunt updates classics.

661 Auburn Ave NE, Ste 280, Atlanta

Brittany Wages

The James Room’s dark, sexy backroom lounge reveals itself through a convincingly simple lobby café front, past a door disguised as a bookshelf. You’re here for the vibrations, and perhs the Beltline location plays a large part as well. But ultimately, the James Room is all about the people, Atlanta’s in-town movers and shakers, who show up stylishly for refined drinks, great music, and the requisite mingling and mixing.

Don’t Miss: Jungle birds, palomas and chili-oiled dirty martinis line the menu of classic cocktails, but consider the Until You See the Cross, essentially a premium spicy margarita but clarified with milk, adding silky sophistication.

99 Krog Street NE, Ste W, Atlanta

You always feel good leaving Ticon’, however you felt coming in notwithstanding. That’s because this supercool, charming cocktail den, dimly lit with string lights, was crafted by a group of partners that include beloved ATL bartenders Greg Best and Paul Calvert, before the let’s open a ’70s-themed bar craze hit ATL a few years ago. The crew here not only serves thoughtfully balanced drinks—including very reasonably priced wines as low as $12 per glass—but delivers outstanding hospitality worthy of a James Beard finalist.

Don’t Miss: There’s no way to go wrong with the cocktail menu, whether you’re into dry gin and sherry martinis or mint- and amaretto-kissed mai tais, but the power move is the Reserve Ticonderoga Cup, a fancier play on the bar’s regular $15 version of pineple, lemon, and mint with cherry, cognac and aged rum. This choice variation upgrades your spirits, literally and figuratively, to VSOP and select levels, all over pebbled ice in a metallic vessel, for $8 more.

Where to Stay in Atlanta If You Like to Eat

These hotels are the perfect home base while eating your way through the ATL.

931 Monroe Dr NE, Ste C-106, Atlanta

Food

Quick-Pickled Red Onions

Think of this pickled red onion recipe as a versatile blueprint. Crisp, punchy, and ready after about an hour of hands-off time, they’re one of the easiest ways to add bright, tangy flavor to everyday meals.

Keep a jar in the fridge and add them to tacos, breakfast sandwiches, burgers, grain bowls, salads, or just some roasted vegetables. Their sharp bite mellows as they soak in the brine, while their signature crunch remains. The longer they sit, the more deeply flavored and vibrant they become—making them a simple make-ahead condiment you’ll reach for again and again.

Tips for making quick-pickled red onions

Yes. Warming the brine before pouring it over the onions speeds up the pickling process (heat over medium-high just until the sugar is dissolved). The finished pickled onions will be slightly softer than if you brine them at room temperature, but they’ll be ready to eat in just about 15 minutes.

Can I use a different vinegar?

Can I add spices or aromatics?

Absolutely. Try whole black peppercorns, coriander seeds, bay leaves, garlic cloves, sliced chiles, or fresh herbs for extra flavor.

How long do pickled red onions last in the fridge?

After about an hour at room temperature, the onions will be lightly pickled and still fairly sharp. As they sit in the brine, their flavor becomes more balanced, their color deepens, and their bite mellows. Store them in their pickling liquid in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

The best way to slice onions for pickling →

Slice the onion in half from root to stem. At an angle, trim the ends from both sides, then remove the pery skins. Following the onion’s curve, slice into long strips from pole to pole. Confused? How about a video:

How to Cut an Onion (With Videos, Thank Goodness!)

Food

Rhubarb Double Chocolate Loaf Cake

Lots of rhubarb and chocolate chips in this cake!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

for the cake:

1 egg at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
pinch salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb about 1 1/2 stalks

for the glaze:

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour (or cocoa) a standard loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Set aside.
In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the egg, buttermilk, canola oil and vanilla. While the mixer is running, slowly stream in the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
Fold in chocolate chips and rhubarb. Pour into prepared pan, bake 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out nearly clean. Unmold to a wire rack and cool.

Keyword cake, dessert, pantry baking

Rhubarb and chocolate is an underrated flavor combination. It’s similar to cherry and dark chocolate—tart and rich but with vegetal touch.

Rhubarb makes the cake really moist and slightly crumbly but who doesn’t love a craggy cake?

The beauty of a loaf cake is that it is quick to put together and quick to eat. Low commitment baking.

Food

The Best Immersion Blenders Will Save You Money and Counterspace

Braun’s 500-watt MultiQuick 7 is the Goldilocks of immersion blenders and a meal-prep MVP. It’s powerful, lightweight, has a comfortable grip, makes speed adjustments ridiculously easy, and excelled at all of the tests we put it through with no splashing and very little noise. It also comes with a number of attachments that only add to its versatility.

What we love: If we had to choose one word to describe the Braun MultiQuick 7 immersion blender, it’s easy. Everything about it makes meal-prep breezy and less of a chore. Unlike the All-Clad Corded Immersion Blender that topped this review in past years, the MultiQuick 7 is extremely lightweight and we never felt fatigued, even while performing multiple jobs in a row. The rubberized ergonomic handle provided a firm, comfortable grip as we powered through tasks, and Braun’s Easy SmartSpeed technology made switching speeds a sn: Squeeze the trigger-like control button tighter to speed things up and loosen your grip to slow things down.

The MultiQuick 7’s ActiveBlade technology, which allows the blade to move up and down during operation instead of remaining static, proved an incredible upgrade when prepping our soup and smoothies. The spinning stainless steel blade created a swirling vortex that effortlessly broke down carrots and frozen fruit without any suctioning to the bottom of the pot or the included blending container—an issue we experienced with several other models we tested.

Besides the container, the MultiQuick 7 comes with a whisk attachment, a puree attachment, and a food processor bowl. The whisk, which attached to the handle with a simple click, quickly produced a mountain of fluffy whipped cream and a creamy, perfectly emulsified aioli with no separation. It took just a few pulses of the chopper to create a he of finely chopped onions for our carrot soup (more on that below). Is the chopper better than a knife? Not necessarily, but we liked the added convenience.

What we’d leave: There really isn’t much we didn’t love about the MultiQuick 7 immersion blender; the blade and whisk both did a superior job in our tests. The chopper attachment, however, can be a little overzealous. Even though we only gave it a few pulses, our chopped onions were slightly mushy. They were fine for our carrot soup recipe, but be careful if you want more crunch in something like a salsa.

Speaking of attachments, this stick blender comes with a lot of extras and no container or bag for storing them. Immersion blenders are typically space savers, but these can actually clutter up a cabinet.

Pros:

Affordable
Simple design
Ergonomic handle
Blending jar doubles as measuring cup

Cons:

Less powerful motor
Requires more effort to break down hard, fibrous fruits and vegetables

Blending depth: 8″
Power: 300 watts
Power settings: 2
Attachments: Whisk attachment, measuring mixing cup
Warranty: Limited 1-year warranty

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