Brothy Mediterranean Lima Beans

Eating from the garden often means eating the same vegetable for days on end.  If you've been following us for a while you know that we've had eggplant almost every night for months.  Literally, months.  Before that it was snap beans daily.  They took forever, but now the big producers in the garden are the lima beans.  There are baby limas, gigantic Christmas limas, Carolina pole limas, and Florida speckled limas.   Lima beans are well-suited to the Southern garden because they love the heat which is never in short supply here.   They take a long time to mature, but then they provide a long, extended harvest.

Unlike the bland frozen beans I remember eating while growing up, fresh limas are full of flavor and absolutely gorgeous.  We've been experimenting with different lima recipes to keep it interesting every night.  The limas have impressed with their versatility.  They're also very filling, high in protein and fiber, and an excellent source of folate, iron and potassium.   Best of all as far as David is concerned, they're NOT eggplant.

Two nights ago we had an Italian soup with lima beans.  Last night, David decided to cook a Middle Eastern-style dinner.  We had a simple salad with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden, and Brothy Mediterranean Lima Beans.  We used a combination of limas from the garden.  The cooked beans turned shades of lavender, pink, and white in a warm aromatic broth.   Delicious, and definitely not monotonous.

Brothy Mediterranean Lima Beans

Ingredients

1 1/2         cup           fresh lima beans
                                 (or whatever you manage to harvest),
                                 removed from pods
3/4            cup           water
2               Tbs           extra virgin olive oil
2               Tbs           fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1               Tbs           garlic, minced
1/2            tsp            sea salt
                                 black pepper
1               Tbs           lemon juice
                                  bread for dipping
                                 (we used Middle Eastern cheese bread)

Procedure

1. Combine water, beans, 1 1/2 Tbs olive oil, 1 Tbs parsley, garlic and salt.  Cover and heat over medium until beans are cooked, stirring occasionally.  We used a combination of fresh limas in different sizes (probably not the best idea because the small beans cook more quickly).  Everything, including the gigantic Christmas limas, was done after 12 minutes.  If using only baby limas, check after 8 minutes.
2. Remove from heat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add lemon juice, 1 Tbs parsley and 1/2 Tbs olive oil.  Serve warm, and use bread for dipping.