Baked Lima Beans

Baked Lima Beans

From the book Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros this recipe for Baked Lima Beans with Onions, Tomatoes and Parsley easily converts into an allergy friendly format with the substitution of *gluten free breadcrumbs. Lots of recipes in beautiful books like this one just need a slight adjustment to meet your dietary needs. 
(*These can be made easily by lightly toasting a couple of pieces of gluten free bread - or drying them in the oven at about 300 degrees for 10 minutes - and then pulsing in the blender or food processor... you can also put the dried bread in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.)

This recipe makes 8 servings as a side dish and 4 servings as a vegetarian entrée.

Ingredients:
3 cups dried lima beans, soaked overnight
1 bay leaf
½ cup olive oil
2 small red onions, finely chopped
2 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes (about 5 regular), peeled and coarsely chopped – or use 1 ½ (14 oz) cans
4 tablespoons chopped, fresh parsley
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs*

Instructions:
Drain the beans, put them in a saucepan with the bay leaf, cover generously with cold water and bring to a boil.
Skim off any scum that rises, decrease the heat slightly and cook for about 1 ½ hours, or until they are very tender. Add salt towards the end of the cooking time.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Drain the beans, reserving about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water and put them in a large baking pan.
Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a nonstick skillet.
Gently sauté the onions until they are lightly golden and softened, stirring so that they don’t stick.
Remove from the heat and mix in a bowl with the celery, garlic, tomatoes, parsley and remaining olive oil. 
Season with pepper and a little salt.
Add the reserved bean water, pour all this into the beans and mix through well.
Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, then remove the foil and stir the beans, adding a little extra water if they seem to be drying out.
Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and return to the oven, uncovered for another 30 minutes.

The following nutritional analysis is calculated on one side serving (8 sides per recipe):

Nutritional information provided by www.menucalc.com