Greens on Toast

Greens on Toast

Honestly, greens on toast is one of those recipes we keep coming back to on busy mornings when we want something that actually feels like a proper meal. Silky cavolo nero, creamy butter beans, sweet garden peas and a hit of lemon all piled on toast; it's simple but it really delivers. The textures are brilliant, you get that soft, buttery bean base with tender greens and a bit of brightness from the zest. We love this one because it goes from nothing to on the table in 20 minutes, and it feels way more special than it has any right to. Make it this weekend, trust us.

Cook: 20 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Microplane or fine grater
  • 2x frying pans

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp plant-based pesto
  • 2 slice of quality sourdough big slices
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Nooch
  • 1 tbsp plant-based pesto
  • 4 tbsp hummus
  • x 400g can butter beans drained
  • 50g garden peas
  • 2 spring onions
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 3 cavolo nero leaves
  • 1 Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1

Prepare the topping ingredients

  • Trim the spring onions and finely slice
  • Peel and grate the garlic
  • Drain the butter beans
  • Remove the spine of the cavolo nero and finely slice the leaves
  • Zest and halve the lemon
2

Cook the topping ingredients

  • Warm the olive oil in the pan over medium heat, add the garlic and butter beans and stir for 5 minutes
  • Add the spring onions, garden peas and stir for 1 minute
  • Add the lemon zest and stir for 1 minute
  • Add the cavolo nero and pesto and fold until slightly wilted
  • Squeeze over the lemon juice, catching any pips with your spare hand, sprinkle over the nooch, season with salt and pepper and fold to combine
  • Turn the heat right down
3

Prepare the pesto toast

  • Add the olive oil to the second frying pan and warm over medium high heat
  • Add the pesto and stir into the oil
  • Lay the bread in the pan and fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden and crispy
4

Time to serve

  • Transfer the pesto toast onto plates, load up the toast with hummus, the greens topping a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and serve immediately

Tips & Variations

  • Use good bread: This is toast, so the bread really matters. A thick sourdough or a proper wholegrain loaf will hold up to the toppings and add loads of flavour.
  • Swap the greens: If you can't find cavolo nero, kale or even spinach works brilliantly here. Just adjust the cooking time slightly as spinach wilts much faster.
  • Turn up the heat: We love adding a pinch of chilli flakes with the garlic if we want a bit of a kick in the morning. Henry always throws a few in without asking, which we're both fine with.

Why This Works

The trick here is cooking the garlic and butter beans together first so the beans soak up all that garlicky olive oil and go really creamy and flavourful before the other veg even hits the pan. Then the lemon zest at the end lifts everything and stops it feeling heavy. It's a small thing but it makes a huge difference.