My husband proposed to me in Greece, overlooking the Aegean Sea, in Sounio, at the Temple of Poseidon. The setting was beyond beautiful and set the stage nicely for a long happy union. It is easy to conjure up the wonderful feeling of being in Greece, the healing sun, the deep blue sea, the white stucco buildings and the simple, but exquisitely flavoured, Greek food.

My good friend Mimi Kitner introduced me to this recipe which is as good as the best lima bean recipes in Montreal’s finest Greek restaurants. These lima beans melt in your mouth, hot, cold or in between. This dish can be served as a side dish or frozen in small containers for single servings in lunch bags. It will be my contribution to my 2011 book club, pot luck holiday party. Best of all, it practically cooks itself.

Ingredients

• 1 lb jumbo lima beans, soaked overnight, simmered for 25 minutes in 16 cups of water, then drained
• 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, cut irregularly to bite size
• 2-3 c chopped onion
• 3 T tomato paste
• 1 bunch flat leafed parsley, or cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 c sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
• 1/4 c oil from sun-dried tomato jar, mix well first to get best flavour
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1 c water
• 3 t kosher salt
• 1/2 t black pepper

Combine all the above and bake, covered, for 2 hours at 350 degrees.

Heavily inspired by the spectacular Panache Cookbook, edited by Shawna Goodman-Sone, benefitting the Jewish General Hospital. This is a cookbook worth collecting.

Thanks to my good friend Laura Winer, for including me in her book club and for keeping track of all the great books we’ve read over the years.

Thanks to udondave, who uploaded the You Tube video above on 23 Sep 2011. Beautiful spot, well captured.