romaine and habas grandes salad ready to eat

I love Goya canned Spanish products and always keep my pantry stocked with some of their olives, capers and beans. In the bean department they have a wide range of choices. I especially like their habas grandes (also called butter or lima beans) which inevitably end up as an ingredient in my salads. These beans have a creamy texture with a nutty, buttery flavor. They pair very well with olive oil and vinegar. I love it! The literal translation for habas grandes would be ‘big fava beans’ but this is a misnomer. This bean has nothing to do with fava beyond having a similar size and shape. The taste is completely different.

Habas grandes originally come from Peru. They were introduced to Europe by the Spanish. I guess that Europeans just weren’t that creative in bean naming so couldn’t come up with anything better than calling the thing ‘fava.’ This led to further bean confusion and chaos and, well, the rest is history!

That said, the haba grande, or the ‘big New World fava,’ sometimes also known as the butter or lima bean really makes this salad pop visually and in taste and nutrition.

can of Goya brand habas grandes

Romaine Lettuce with Habas Grandes Salad

Ingredients:

1 ½ romaine lettuce hearts, roughly shredded by hand
1 can of habas grandes, rinsed
1 small onion, sliced and soaked in cold water for approx 5 minutes, then rinsed
4 sprigs of parsley, roughly chopped
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp capers
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp water
4 tbsp olive oil

How to:

Add sliced onion to a bowl followed by salt, vinegar, olive oil, water, pepper, parsley and capers. Mix and let stand for a few minutes. This will mellow the onion flavor. Add beans and romaine. Toss by hand until dressing is incorporated. Taste to adjust salt.