Marinated Giant White Beans and Beets

Name: Marinated Giant White Beans and Beets
Total time: 2 h
Yield: Serves six to eight
Ingredients: 1 pound dried large lima beans; 1 large white onion, cut in half; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 bay leaf; Salt to taste; 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice; 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil; 1/2 cup finely chopped celery; 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow or red bell pepper; 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion, soaked for five minutes in cold water, drained and rinsed optional; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill; 8 small beets, greens cut away, scrubbed; 1/3 cup red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar; Salt to taste; 2 garlic cloves, cut in half; 1/2 teaspoon sugar

By Martha Rose Shulman

Total Time: 2 hours
Rating: 4(68)
Comments: Read comments

Many Greeks love giant white lima beans. This recipe is an adaptation of a dish prepared by the Greek chef Jim Botsacos for a Clean Monday celebration to benefit the Gennadius Library in Athens. Don’t soak the beans or they’ll fall while they cook. Mr. Botsacos serves this with skordalia.

Featured in: Vegetarian Dishes From a Greek Holiday

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves six to eight

For the Beans

1pound dried large lima beans
1large white onion, cut in half
4garlic cloves, crushed
1bay leaf
Salt to taste
¼cup fresh lemon juice
⅓cup extra virgin olive oil
½cup finely chopped celery
½cup finely chopped yellow or red bell pepper
½cup finely chopped red onion, soaked for five minutes in cold water, drained and rinsed optional
2tablespoons chopped fresh dill

For the Beets

8small beets, greens cut away, scrubbed
⅓cup red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
Salt to taste
2garlic cloves, cut in half
½teaspoon sugar

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

For the Beans
1. Step 1
  Place the beans in a large pot. Cover by 2 inches with water, and bring to a gentle boil. Skim off any foam, and add the onion, garlic and bay leaf. Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt to taste, and simmer an additional 20 minutes until just tender. Remove from the heat. Remove and discard the onion, garlic cloves and the bay leaf. Allow the beans to cool in the liquid, then drain through a strainer set over a bowl. Gently toss the beans in a bowl with the lemon juice, olive oil, celery, peppers, onion and herbs. If desired, add 2 to 4 tablespoons of the bean broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Step 2
  Cook the beets while the beans are cooking. Place in a saucepan, cover with water, add ¼ cup of the vinegar and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until tender, 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. Remove from the heat, add the garlic to the pot and set aside to cool. Remove the beets from the pot (do not drain), slip off the skins and cut in wedges.
3. Step 3
  Combine the remaining vinegar, the sugar and ¼ cup of the beet broth (discard the garlic). Toss with the beets. Arrange the beans on a plate or in a bowl and surround with the beets. If you wish, serve this dish with skordalia.

Tip

Advance preparation: The beans and the beets can both be prepared up to three days before serving.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

Ratings

4 out of 5

68 user ratings

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Comments

LindaL7 years ago

Very good served room temperature or slightly warm. Be warned: without pre-soaking, the giant limas came out with good texture and without falling apart, but they took 2-1/2 hours of simmering to become tender-- definitely a good idea to make them the day before.

S7 years ago

Dish is delicious. It's forgiving and flexible: I made it with basil instead of dill and it was great. I cooked the beans in a stove top pressure cooker: 10 mins to come up to pressure, 5 mins at pressure, turn the heat off, let cool naturally. Add salt and aromatics in the beginning. I had missed the direction to not soak the beans, so I had soaked them for a couple of hours. But it was still very good. Beats watching a pot for 50 plus mins. I am sure it'll be as good in InstaPot.

ccfca3 weeks ago

love both the beans (used navy beans) and the beets - together and separately. I had roasted the beets prior to deciding to make this recipe, but it worked out fine - I just used more vinegar in the pickle stage. It does make quite a bit, so maybe make only 1/2 unless feeding a larger group.

dimmerswitch5 years ago

*Made bean portion of this looking for home cooked analog to the marinated large white beans found at antipasti bars at grocery chains (Whole Foods etc), most of which come from same mass distributor and use soybean oil (ugh). *Made twice - once with Royal Corona beans and then Judion beans, both soaked overnight before cooking. *Roasted the red bell pepper & used more of it. Subbed thyme for dill. Added splash wine vinegar. *Holds well for 3/4 days in fridge. Served room temp.

S7 years ago

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