Yes it’s hard to believe that anyone could love lima beans – they sure take a beating in the forum of public opinion. I grew up hearing horror stories about how everyone hated lima beans, but mothers everywhere seemed compelled to buy them and force kids to eat them all up so there was not one left on the plate. I guess it was mothers’ way of getting even for all the crazy stuff kids did. For most of my life I was only exposed to them when I had my vegetable soup. There was sure to be one or two floating in the bowl somewhere. I thought I liked them, but there were never enough to know for sure. One time I bought a bag of frozen lima beans. That was a disaster! They tasted like sludge mixed with wet cardboard. From that point on I was curious but simply ignored them.
This past year my wife Ninon got us involved in a community gardening project. She managed to get a 25 X 25 foot plot and we plunged into gardening in Maryland. One of our plot neighbors, Bob, is a gardening expert, and also works at the University of Maryland in their Agriculture Department. He is an encyclopedia of great info and has been an invaluable resource to us this past summer. One day he mentioned in passing that he was growing lima beans. He said he loved the taste of fresh cooked lima beans in butter along with a little salt. I filed that info away and never thought much more about it until we were visiting a garden stand in Delaware close to Bethany Beach. As we were purchasing corn and tomatoes I noticed boxes of lima beans still in the pod – big hairy green pods! So I decided to buy just one box and give them a try. A few days later I shelled them, boiled them and put on a little butter and salt. They were simply delicious! Before I knew it I had eaten them all without sharing any with Ninon. So the next time we went down to the ocean we bought some more. This time we made a dish called Succotash which is made with fresh corn (not on the cob) mixed with lima beans in a cream sauce.
Well for those of you old enough to remember Sylvester the Cat in Bugs Bunny - Suffer’n Succotash! – It was wonderful! Way beyond excellent! So, if you are interested in a new food adventure here is a recipe for Succotash and if you are quick (because they are almost finished for the season), go down to your local farmer’s market and pick up some lima beans and give ‘em a try. Your mother will be impressed!
Thanks for helping me better feed our Real Estate Community!
Picture Courtesy of goodguide.com
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