Traditional Greek Baked Lima Beans (Fasolada)

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Traditional Greek baked Lima Beans in tomato salsa

by Dr Antigone Kouris-Blazos
serves 6-8

Ingredients

Beans
1.5 cups lima beans soaked in 3 cups water
2-3 litres of water for boiling

Tomato Salsa
2 celery sticks + leaves, finely chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes (e.g. La Gina)
1 small red capsicum, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed.
200-300 ml water
2 massel vegetable stock cubes and black pepper
iodised salt (end of cooking, according to taste)
1 teaspoon dried oregano (end of cooking)

Accompaniments: bread, olives, fetta, sardines, wine

Method

Soak beans overnight in 3 cups water. Rinse beans after soaking (do not re-use the soaking water)
Place beans in 2-3 litres of cold water and put on medium heat on stove and simmer for about 45 minutes or until beans are tender but not too soft (they will soften further when they are cooked in the oven with the tomato salsa).
Chop all vegetables.
In a shallow wide pot, lightly saute onion and garlic in olive oil and add parsley.
Add tomato and water and simmer.
Add the remaining vegetables, stock cubes and oregano.
Simmer salsa for about 60 minutes till all vegetables are soft and it looks like a thick sauce. If the sauce is too thick add some more water e.g 1/2 cup. Avoid adding to much water as this will make dish too 'soupy'
Place lima beans in a shallow oven tray and mix through the tomato salsa.
Bake in moderate oven for about 45 minutes or more (the dish is ready when the salsa looks like it has been partly absorbed by the lima beans)

Serve with with olives, fetta (try reduced fat fetta), sardines and a glass of wine.

How many times a week should I have legume dishes?
At least one legume dish a week is desirable. This recommendation is based on the frequency of intake of long-lived populations in the Mediterranean and in Asia. More than this weekly frequency is recommended for vegetarians or for people who avoid red meat. Legumes/soy are a 'meat alternative' - this means that when you have, for example, baked beans on toast, it counts as a 'serving of red meat'.
See also the HEC Healthy Eating Pyramid

A study publsihed in 2001 showed that eating beans a few times a week can help to reduce heart disease risk. The study showed that the more beans you eat the less likely you are to get heart disease.Read more...

Last Updated: November 22, 2001.