Large meaty Christmas lima beans with tomato and celery and garlic is a delicious stew-like vegan dish. My favorite way to serve these beans is over steamed brown rice and sautéed dark leafy greens.
Aren’t these maroon-spotted dried beans beautiful? I found them in the bulk bin at Whole Foods, and right away decided to cook up them up with some tomato and celery. I came right home and covered them in water to soak overnight.
The recipe is easy. All you do is simmer the soaked beans with onions and garlic and tomatoes and celery until they’re tender. The best and fastest cooking method for Christmas lima beans is in your pressure cooker or Instant Pot.
Christmas limas are huge beans, at least twice the size of a black bean and they do need an overnight soak to come out with a tender texture when cooked.
Christmas lima beans are an hierloom bean with a meaty texture and a nutty flavor. With tomato and celery, this is soul food at it’s finest. For a sumptuous vegetarian meal ladle this soul food stew over steamed brown rice and sautéed dark leafy greens like kale, collards, or spinach.
Sometimes you can find Christmas limas in bulk bins. I order mine fom Rancho Gordo.
To learn more about cooking beans in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot–see this post on How to Cook Black Beans in a pressure cooker.
This recipe for Potato and Pinto Bean Soup would be delicious with Christmas limas in place of the pintos!
Make it a fabulous week–get in the kitchen and cook something delicious!
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Christmas Lima Beans with Tomato and Celery
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried Christmas lima beans
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion , chopped
- 2 celery ribs , sliced 3/8 inch thick
- 2 cloves garlic cloves , minced
- 14.5 ounces (1 can) diced tomatoes
- 3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Rinse the beans and put them in a bowl, covering them amply with cold water. Let soak at least 8 hours or, ideally, overnight.
- Heat the oil in a heavy pot or pressure cooker over medium flame. Stir in the onion, celery and garlic, and sauté until the onions soften, 5 minutes or so.
- Add the tomatoes, water, sage, bay leaf and pepper. Drain the soaked beans, rinse again, and add them into the pot.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat so the liquid simmers just below a boil, and cook until the beans are tender, 2 to 2 ½ hours. (Check the pot every so often and top with more water if the level is getting low.) See notes for pressure cooking these beans.
- Remove the bay leaf and stir in the salt. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve over rice and cooked kale or collards or chard, something green.
Excellent!! · 19 August, 2020