A week or so ago, Andy was gone for a few days, and the kids requested some simple food for dinner. They asked for hamburgers and pancakes, so I decided to see if I could find something different to go with the burgers.
I flipped through a favorite standby cookbook A Year In A Vegetarian Kitchen and couldn’t tear myself away from the recipe for Stewed Lima Beans with Tomatoes and Fennel Seeds. While I didn’t think it would be something the kids would enjoy, it’s been a very long time since I’ve had lima beans, and this sounded as if it had an almost Indian flare to it. Plus, it looked like it came together really easily, and used mostly on-hand ingredients once I picked up the cilantro and frozen lima beans.
The first night I enjoyed this as a side dish to our grilled burgers all by itself. The flavors are different- the fennel is pronounced, so if you don’t like fennel, this isn’t the recipe for you. But it combined beautifully with the ginger, garlic and tomatoes, and just was a nice way to dress up lima beans. The second time I enjoyed this, I had it for lunch over some Jasmine rice, and that was delicious. I thought it was still missing something though- a bit of an acidic punch despite the tomatoes in the stew. A splash of lemon or even a tangy yogurt raita would be the perfect addition to round out the meal.
Overall, this was a keeper. It’s vegetarian comfort food, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the whole time I was eating this, I thought that a few really good natural sausages added to the stew would make my meat-eating hubby very, very happy.
Stewed Lima Beans with Tomatoes and Fennel Seeds
from A Year In A Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop
2 Tablespoons canola oil 1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 Tablespoon minced ginger-root 2 medium garlic cloves, minced 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes salt 3/4 cup vegetable broth 2 10-ounce packages frozen lima beans, thawed and rinsed 2 Tablespoons freshly minced cilantro leaves Freshly ground black pepperDirections:
Place the oil and fennel seeds in a large skillet. Turn the heat on to medium and cook until very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste and simmer until the sauce thickens a bit- about 5 minutes.
Add the broth and beans and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer until the flavors are combined, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and adjust the seasonings, adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve.