magic bean

I meant to post this a couple days ago for my Monday food blogging, but forgot. Sorry!

Many people don't like them (crazy people) but I love Lima beans. This dish is so yummy that it could convert even the most adamant Lima bean hater, Lima Bean Puree served with Grilled Tuna and Salsa Verde. (Salsa Verde is an Italian parsley sort of pesto- not a Mexican tomatillo salsa). It is my favorite Sunday supper.

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Btw, the Lima bean puree is vegan, and it only takes one, easy, substitution to make the salsa verde vegan too. So, using whatever plant protein you prefer, this can be a dish for vegans too. (I've made it with seitan. It was delicious!)

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Recipes from Suzanne Goin's wonderful, wonderful, wonderful (did I say wonderful?) cookbook, Sunday Suppers at Lucques. I changed a few things to make it lighter and faster, but if my butt were smaller and I had more time I would not have changed a thing.

Salsa Verde:

1 teaspoon fresh oregano
1/4 cup fresh mint
1 cup fresh, flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 salt packed anchovy (or substitute vegan Worcester sauce.)
1 tablespoon rinsed and drained salt packed capers
2 tablespoons lemon juice (juice of half a lemon)

Coarsely chop the herbs in a food processor. Add the oil and garlic and pulse a few times. Add the anchovies, capers and lemon juice and pulse two or three times.

Just like pesto, this keeps in the fridge for awhile and freezes really well. And it is a great thing to make in the summer when you accidentally plant 6 parsley plants that you don't know what to do with and the mint in your back yard goes crazy.

It's lighter than pesto and tastes good with almost everything. A simple plate of roasted vegetables or a boring old omelet is made really special with a blob of salsa verde on top, add a little feta cheese to make it extra special.

Lima Bean Puree
2 cups Lima beans (frozen is fine)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons thyme
1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoons olive oil
1 sprig rosemary
1 pepperoncino (or any small dried hot pepper)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (the juice of half a lemon)
salt and pepper

Heat 1 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion, 1 clove of the garlic, and the thyme and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the beans (if you're using frozen, no need to thaw them) and saute for a couple minutes. Add enough water to cover the beans by an inch or two. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes until the beans are tender (less if you are using fresh beans. Keep that in mind for summer.) Remove from heat, drain and set aside, reserving the liquid. (This summer I did this with some of the Lima beans from our garden and froze them and have used them in a whole bunch of different dishes.)

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a sauce pan over medium/low heat. Add the rosemary and pepperoncino and cook until the rosemary starts to sizzle, then add 2 cloves of garlic and cook for a couple minutes. Add the beans and a little bit of salt. Cook on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the beans are soft. Remove the rosemary sprig and the pepperoncino.

(While I am doing this part, Steven cooks the fish. He uses our panini press which is fast and easy, and lets us pretend it was cooked outside.)

Put the beans in a food processor and puree. Add some of the reserved liquid to thin it if you need to achieve a smooth texture. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. (you can save the rest of the liquid and throw it in vegetable stock for soup or risotto.)

Serve
Plate the tuna on the puree, top with salsa verde and serve. Yum!