I like dried baby limas....and use them to make soup...pretty standars...smoked shank or ham bone, chipped onion and i grated carrot...
Wash the beans...cover with water by 3 inches, add rest of ingredients and simmer until the beans start to fall apart...

Here's one I make when good mangoes are on sale.

BLACK BEANS IN MANGO SAUCE

1 1/ 2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups minced red onion
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 3-inch jalapeno chile, seeded and minced
1 1/ 2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
1 1/ 2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
1 1/ 2 tsp. salt
About 6 cups cooked black beans (or 3 15-ounce cans, rinsed and drained)
6 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 large ripe mangoes, peeled and minced
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet. Add 1 3/ 4 cups of the onion, and the garlic, chile, ginger, cumin seeds, and salt. Saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and add the beans and about half the lime juice. Cook for about 5 minutes more until the beans are heated through and then transfer to a bowl.

Stir in the remaining lime juice and about half of the chopped mangoes directly into the hot beans, mashing the mangoes a little as you stir. Grind in some black pepper, then cove and let stand for about 15 minutes to let the sauce develop.

Serve warm, at room temperature, or even cold, topped with the remaining red onion and mango, and some minced parsley or cilantro, if desired.

Good served with plain cooked white or brown rice.

Source: Mollie Katzens Vegetable Heaven

Oh! DS loves mangos. Now I have to try this!

I just made this one with mangoes and lentils, it was a hit in my house, I'll definitely make it again. I thought it might be too spicy but it wasn't at all.

Indian Mango Dal
From EatingWell January/February 2010

More than 60 different types of dal (or dhal) are made across India. The basic dish contains lentils or other legumes flavored with aromatics and spices. Here, yellow lentils (toor dal) and mango are cooked in a more traditionally Southern India stylemore souplike. Both ripe and underripe mango will work: less-ripe mango imparts a tart flavor and holds its shape, while riper mango breaks down more during cooking and gives the dish a sweeter taste. Serve over basmati rice or with roasted chicken.

6 servings, about 1 cup each

1 cup yellow lentils
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 mangoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1.Place lentils in a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. Combine lentils, 4 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and turmeric in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
2.Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and cook until fragrant and starting to brown, about 30 seconds. Add onion; cook, stirring, until soft and beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, coriander, cayenne and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more.
3.Stir the garlic mixture and mangoes into the lentils. Return to a simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are falling apart, 10 to 15 minutes more. Stir in cilantro.

Per serving : 186 Calories; 3 g Fat; 2 g Mono; 9 g Protein; 9 g Fiber; 398 mg Sodium; 511 mg Potassium

1 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fruit, 1 lean meat, 1/2 fat

Happily I love beans and legumes, so I eat them often. I really like hummus with celery sticks as a snack too, and I like bean cakes, as long as I don't try to make them taste like burgers, I just eat them for what they are. I love, love, love baked beans and I like this bean soup with kale, another healthy recipe from Eating Well. Geez, you'd think I'd be the world's healthiest person, wouldn't you? Anyway, the recipe calls for canned beans but you could cook the dried ones instead.

Pork, White Bean & Kale Soup

From EatingWell: September/October 2007
6 servings, about 1 2/3 cups each

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons paprika, preferably smoked
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste (optional)
1 cup white wine
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 bunch kale, ribs removed, chopped (about 8 cups lightly packed)
1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork, sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring once or twice, until no longer pink on the outside, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate with tongs, leaving juices in the pot.
Add onion to the pot and cook, stirring often, until just beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic, paprika and crushed red pepper (if using) and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and tomatoes, increase heat to high and stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add broth and bring to a boil.
Add kale and stir just until it wilts. Reduce heat to maintain a lively simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is just tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in beans, the reserved pork and any accumulated juices; simmer until the beans and pork are heated through, about 2 minutes.

Per serving : 262 Calories; 6 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 45 mg Cholesterol; 26 g Carbohydrates; 25 g Protein; 7 g Fiber; 627 mg Sodium; 1024 mg Potassium

1 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetable, 2 lean meat

Annie

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I like butter beans which are the same thing as Linda's baby limas. In the winter when I can't get them fresh, I usually get the canned or frozen to go in vegetable soup. The only other time I eat them is fresh, in summer. You might try Allrecipes with a search of limas. It should bring up some stuff.

I normally buy them frozen, and then they are quick to heat up, following the instructions on the package. All I add to them is butter - no salt and no pepper. I want to taste the beans, not the seasoning. I'm like that with a lot of vegetables, including corn and squash. If I cook dried beans, however, I do season them because they don't have the flavor of fresh or frozen.

For other legumes, my other favorite is garbanzos, and I often add Indian spices to them, along with potatoes, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and celery. For Indian spices, I sometimes use a small amount of a spice mix and then add garam masala, curry powder, fenugreek, ginger, and cumin. I should probably make my own spice mixes. Most of them have a bit too much cinnamon for my taste, which is why I use a very small amount of a pre-mixed spice, which will often have too much salt and pepper as well.

Lars

Lima Beans - Soul Food Style

1 pound dried large lima beans 2 smoked ham hocks 2 quarts water 1 medium onion, roughly chopped 1 teaspoon (or to tasted) crushed red pepper flakes Salt to taste Boiling water to add as needed 1\. Soak beans according to package directions. (I nearly always use the quick soak method, which takes 5 or 10 min. total) 2\. Simmer ham hocks and onion in water for 1 hour. 3\. Remove the ham hocks, reserving the broth, and remove meat from the bones. 4\. Add beans, meat and red pepper to the broth as well as additional boiling water if necessary to cover the beans. Simmer gently until just tender, about 45 min. 5\. Remove 1/2 cup of beans, mash them and return them to the pot. 6\. Add salt. 7\. Simmer until the beans are very tender but not disintegrated and the liquid has become a gravy, about 1 hour from the start of cooking. Times given above are approximate and can vary from batch to batch. It is important to watch the pot and sample occasionally, especially in the later part of cooking. If the beans arent mashable at 45 min., for example, wait a little. When additional water is needed to keep the beans covered, add boiling water. But dont over do it or the gravy will be too thin. Cold water will cause the beans to split. The object is end up with well flavored beans of a buttery softness in sauce of medium consistency, not too thick and not too thin, just perfect. These beans are great in combination with BBQ and collard greens. Jim

I don't have anything I like with butterbeans. Here is an excellent Black Bean Soup by Dave Lieberman. I omit about half of the black beans to make it a little more soupy.

Black Bean Soup

10 slices bacon, finely chopped
2 medium onions, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
6 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 (15 1/2-ounce) cans black beans, drained but not rinsed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish
Sour cream, for garnish
Grated cheddar, for garnish

Directions
Put the bacon into a large heavy pot and place it over medium heat. Cook until it starts to give up its fat, about 4 minutes. Stir in the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 1 minute. Add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire, and chili powder. Stir in the beans, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the soup is bubbling gently and cook 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, pick off all the thick stems from the cilantro. Wash it and shake dry. Chop the cilantro coarsely and stir it into the soup when it has been simmering 10 minutes. cook until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Serve with the garnishes.

Susy that recipe from BF sounds very similar to my "Elegant Lima Beans" recipe. I have never made it with the older, white dried limas but I'm going to try it this weekend because I have some to use up. Note that my recipe calls for a lot less water than Bobby's.

Elegant Lima Beans
4 cups cooked lima beans (I use the green baby limas, the frozen ones, but I'll bet this would be good with the white butter bean limas too. I've seen both green limas and butter beans sold canned some places. I just cooked up a batch of dry limas for the first time last year and I really liked them. I make my beans in the crockpot.)
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
4 oz. shredded swiss cheese. I use jarlsburg, or kasseri cheese, but I'll bet you could use feta.
1 - 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (I use the lower amount, walnuts are high in calories and fat. I'll bet you could even go down to 2/3 cup on those.)
1/4 tsp. dried basil, crumbled, (or maybe a little more, depends on how you feel about basil, I love it)
1 green pepper, diced (I also sometimes add a small diced zuchinni, which you can also add or sub. for the green pepper since some people don't like peppers. Can also use celery if you like it. Start with what you know you will like though. The additional veggies add more good fiber but I guess you could leave them out if you hate those green veggies.)
3/4 cup water or veg. broth, unsalted if possible
1/2 tsp. salt (you could experiment with less, I almost always use less than the recipe calls for, or even omit because canned tomato sauce has salt in it. I get unsalted veg. broth bouillon cubes in the health food section of Wegman's, but if you can't find unsalted broth, then use water or leave out additional salt.)
1/4 tsp. pepper
minced parsley to garnish

Combine cooked or defrosted limas, vegetables, tomato sauce and water or broth. Simmer 10-15 min. until vegetables are just starting to get tender. Mix in shredded cheese and walnuts, and bake in 350 degree oven for 30 min. Notes: You can toast the walnuts in the oven as it is preheating before adding them to the casserole, but watch them carefully so they don't burn. Usually about 8 min. in the oven at 300 is enough to toast. I hardly ever have fresh parsley so I stir in about 1-2 tsp. dried parsley to the stew before putting it in the oven.

"I nearly always use the quick soak method, which takes 5 or 10 minutes total"

Tsk, tsk. Nobody caught me on that. The 5 or 10 minutes is merely the time for heating the water and simmering the beans for 2 minutes. The actual soak takes another hour.

Anyway, this is a simple recipe in terms of ingredients. Any grocery store has what is needed. Details of the method make all the difference between mediocre and delicious.

Jim

Jim, that is essentially how I do the butter beans/baby limas in the summer when they're fresh. If I don't have a ham hock, bacon gets used. They are delicious! I'll have to try with the dried limas. Thanks!

I agree with Lars-- the frozen ones taste better.

To me, fresh shelly limas (or the frozen equivalent) and dried limas are both good, just in different ways. I wouldn't compare them any more than I would compare green snap beans with baked beans. I would compare fresh limas with fresh horticultural beans or fresh cowpeas. I would compare dried limas with tarbais beans, cannellini, or the like.

BTW, fresh shelly limas are incredibly good cooked with nothing more than a little milk and butter as I recently learned from a friend who grows a large amount of them each year.

Jim

I love getting fresh limas from the Farmers Market during summer time. They come from the County that my Mom grew up. My Mom's parents grew limas and they would shuck them, throw them in the pot with water, bacon grease, onion, salt and pepper and cook away. Ahh...the days.

I don't cook them much anymore expect for in my 15 bean soup. My DH doesn't like them much (says they taste like card board). He just doesn't like the texture. Now my FIL loves them so when he is here, I cook them for him and I and for myself every now and then. They freeze well so that helps me.