We used to fry it in a little vegetable oil, although now I think I'd bake it instead. You can bread it, or leave it plain, then serve with tzatziki, the Greek cucumber dip.

I say "we," but this has always been my husband's dish. He has a great recipe for tzatziki, which I think comes from one of those Athens or Kronos booklets. If you want it, I can ask him.

I top pastitsio with grated kasseri, but that's not going to make much of a dent in a one pound block...

I love it fried and scooped onto warm pitas. I could eat the whole pound rather quickly...

Kind of a weird dish but good. Very mediterranean.

Elegant Lima Beans (I guess you could use any kind of largish bean, like kidney or canelinni)

4 cups cooked lima beans
1 can tomato sauce
4 oz. shredded kasseri cheese (1 cup)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp. basil
1 green pepper, diced (guess you could use red to be even more fancy)
3/4 cup water (or veg. or chicken broth)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Minced parsley to garnish

Combine limas and tomato sauce and broth and spices in a large pot and bring to a boil. Meanwhile sautee the pepper in a little olive oil. Add the pepper, walnuts and cheese to the bean mixture and spoon this into an 8 cup baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

I have not made this in a couple of years and I don't remember it being very runny, but I would start with a little less than 3/4 cup water and see how it goes. I always get compliments on this dish when I make it so I dunno if I follow the recipe or not. You could basically make up any kind of beans with a tomato based sauce, and add the walnuts and cheese to it and bake it. You could even add other sauteed veggies such as onions and yellow squash or zuchinni. And spice it up more if you like. Like I said, I make this for mediterannean themed dinner parties and it draws compliments as being unusual and good, but I haven't made it since about 2004, it makes so much and kasseri cheese is no longer in my budget. You could use feta too I'll bet though, albeit maybe a little less because feta is so dominant tasting compared to kasseri.

The bean dish sounds very interesting. I'll have to make that. But with beans other than lima, it's a texture problem. ;) I also like the fried cheese idea. And I love tzatziki, I just wing it.

I bought it to nibble with wine but I really prefer an aged cheddar for that.

I make this all time, it's very good. Sort of like Saganaki, but no flames, no frying, every Greek place I go to makes it differently, but my favorite prep is to take a baking pan, line the bottom with sliced tomatoes, drizzle some olive oil and some fresh lemon juice on top of the tomatoes, top with slices of Kasseri and then bake until it's bubbling. Serve with pita or slices of a nice crusty baguette! I prefer the baguette.

Perfect to nibble with a glass of wine. and the baguette is great to soak up the pan juices!

Carol, this sounds delish! Now I need a guest...

I always had a texture thing with lima beans too, but I'm getting over it. First, frozen baby limas have improved in texture over the years. Also, I'm finding I can tolerate limas mixed in with other liquidy things. I made a french dish a couple of weekends ago with runny eggs, bacon, tomato sauce and limas. Maybe that's why you put all the water in the dish, to soften the limas. Anyway, also the acid of the tomato sauce cuts the "green" taste of the limas too. But I think it would be good with kidneys or canelinni too. But I haven't tried it. The elegant limas are about the only lima bean dish I ever eat, although I'm adding that other one to my repertoire.

Lpink, I'm thinking some kind of white bean will be great. I am not overly fond of kidney beans either. The skins are so darn tough. I've heard that fresh-from-the-garden limas are the best but I don't know a soul with a lima bean patch!

nah, you don't even need a guest, Eileen, I make it for myself sometimes. So good!

LPink, that sounds great, I'd have to switch out the Lima's! Cannelini sounds good to me!