Saturday, May 21, 2011

Baked Lima Beans



Here is why you should eat Lima beans and legumes in general:
  1. Beans can lower cholesterol
  2. Rich in dietary fiber and prevent blood sugar levels form rising fast after a meal (good diabetic food)
  3. High in protein
  4. Low in fat
  5. Lower risk of hearth attack (folate and magnesium give beneficial cardiovascular health)
  6. Boost energy level (good source of iron and manganese)

Although, you need to think ahead and soak the beans, this dish is super easy to make. This is a good choice of a side dish and potluck dinners because it's easy to make in large batches. You can also make it vegetarian.


INGREDIENTS:
  • 4 cups dry Lima beans
  • 3 yellow onions
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 4 slices of smoked bacon
  • 2 Tbsp paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste

Soak the beans in cold water for 8 hours before cooking.

They will start to look like this after about one hour.


The beans are ready when they are swollen and their volume doubled. Throw away this water and poor new water. Bring to boil and boil for about 15 minutes. Throw away this water again, pour clean new water and boil again, this time for about 1 hour.


While beans are cooking, cut up onions and fry fry in oil.


Add salt, pepper and paprika and mix well. The spices will soak up the remaining oil. Then add bacon and continue to cook until onions are completely translucent and soft.


When beans are done cooking, pout them into a baking dish. Leave enough water to cover the beans.


Then add onions and mix with the beans. Don't worry it it's too watery, baking will take care of that.



Bake at 450F for about 30 minutes or until the water is evaporated and the top is done to your liking.




Baked beans make great leftovers. Store into a microwave safe container, and take to work for lunch. Its healthy, it tastes great, and will save you those $10 were you going to spend on lunch.

Vegetarian option: instead of bacon, use smoked dry pepper.


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3 comments:

  1. you should add a Risks section to identify the risks associated with eating too many beans :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What happens if you use non-dried lima beans? Which of the initial steps can you skip?

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you use canned Lima beans, you can skip soaking. You also don't have to cook them too long.

    ReplyDelete