I am not a fan of beans. In fact, the only kind I’ll happily and willingly consume is green beans. When KOO recently gave me a tin of butter beans I had the grand idea of making butter bean mash and visited Nigella’s site for an easy recipe. I could, however, not bring myself to eat it.

Fortunately, there’s also a delicious side to butter beans, that I absolutely adore. But before I tell you about that, here are some interesting tips about butter beans that I discovered on the KOO website:

• Butter beans must be processed by hand as they can be damaged by machines
• The beans are planted in December and harvested in May
• Butter beans are also known as Lima beans and are an excellent source of protein and fibre
• Unlike wheat or maize, beans must be pollinated

And this is were the sweet side of butter beans comes in. You see, along with the tin of beans, KOO also gave me a wonderful little jar of butter bean honey. This honey is not commercially sold, so it was an extra special and super delicious treat. (Apparently the butter bean honey is combined with Eucalyptus honey when it is sold. In 2010 I wrote an article about bees and Eucalyptus trees – the latter considered an invasive species by many.)

KOO has specifically chosen their butter bean farmers in the east of Mpumalanga. These farmers also double as beekeepers, and every season, as the flowers open, they place their beehives next to the fields for pollination, and the marvellous honey I got to sample. So although I’m not keen on beans, I enjoyed the byproduct of their production.

And fortunately for me and other picky eaters, KOO has a great variety of other tinned food, including veggies, fruit, and other lovely additions (like the South African favourite, chakalaka), making food more monate with no fuss.