Hearty Lima Bean Pride and Joy

I could eat this for every meal for a week... As we get into fall and winter, everyone needs a hearty, rustic, one pot meal. You likely need to go to Whole Foods to be able to find these giant lima beans in the bulk bin section.

1 lb dried giant lima beans ("gigantes")

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

3 medium onions, coarsely chopped or sliced

3 large green bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips (you can use red or yellow ones instead, or a mixture)

28 oz canned diced tomatoes and juice

2 cup water

4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

2 tsp dried basil

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4- 1/2 tsp red chile pepper flakes

freshly-ground black pepper to taste

TOPPING:

About half a loaf of crusty whole wheat bread

4 TBSP Earth Balance or vegan margarine

2 Tbs minced fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, processed into a fine powder using your food processor.

Soak the beans overnight or for about 8 hours in plenty of cold water. When ready to cook, drain the water off and rinse the beans.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large heavy skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions in the oil until they are translucent. Mix the beans and the sauteed onions in a large medium Dutch oven, or small oval roasting pan with a lid. Pour the water into the skillet and scrape up any brown bits, then pour the water into the beanpot and add the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes. Cover and bake for about 2 hours, or until the beans are soft inside. Add a little more water if they get too dry. Taste for salt and pepper.

While the beans are cooking, you will make some homemade breadcrumbs for the topping. Cut the loaf up into slices, and CAREFULLY place them under the broiler until they are super crispy toasted but not burnt. The differenc between this state and burnt is about 30 seconds, so watch closely! Let these cool enough to be handled. Take a coffee cup with roughly 1 TBSP melted Earth Balance and hand crumble the bread slices into the cup until it is full (likely about 5 half pieces of bread). Generally, I will take a spoon handle to “churn” the mixture until you get “buttery” chunks of breadcrumbs/croutons. Repeat until you have enough to lightly cover the beans. Mix them all with the parsley.

Bake for one hour covered. After 1 hour, take the cover off and bake for at least 45 minutes. At this point, there should be little liquid remaining in the dish. At this point, for the last 15 minutes or so of baking, sprinkle the top of the pot with this breadcrumb mixture and continue to bake.

Serve hot with crusty bread.