Frozen Lima Beans

This week the local supermarket has frozen veges on sale $1 for one pound package. I was surprised to find that the regular price for Lima Beans is $3.99. Maybe I'll plant some this season in addition to my regular row of string beans.

Are they hard to grow?

What are some easy recipes?

Reply to
James
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Not hard to grow, but they take a long time to mature, so less turnaround per acre, more money charged.

Google for "lima beans with mint". I had a recipe years ago, can't find it now.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Or any recipe for "butter beans" as limas are called in the south.

George

Reply to
George Shirley

I love lima beans.

Put some in a cereal bowl, add a bit of water, cover with a saucer, and microwave them for 5 or 6 minutes or until tender.

It can't get much easier than that!

Don

Reply to
Don K

I like the dried giant limas, do a quick soak, cut up onion, some garlic, and a link of smoked sausage and simmer until dinner time. Eat over rice or Arkansas cornbread or just plain with a little homemade hot sauce. Filling, rich in fiber, cheap to buy and cook, tastes good too. I like them better than the fresh ones.

George

Reply to
George Shirley

My dad makes his own lima bean, rice, and tomato stew that he serves fairly frequently as a side dish when I visit my parents for dinner. My dad takes whole tomatoes from his garden or store bought, cuts them up and slowly simmers them in a big pot of water with some spices until he gets a sauce, then he adds canned lima beans, white rice, and some other vegies, simmers the mixture more. The result is a vegetable stew that he really enjoys. I am not a big lima bean fan so I seldom eat any of it, but my folks enjoy it a lot and its very easy, but time consuming to slowly simmer the stew.

Reply to
Shawn Hirn

Are butter beans really the same thing as limas? I thought they were different, and I certainly seem to think that I have a preference for butter beans over lima beans. (Hopefully I'm not crazy and basing my preference only on the name when the actual food is no different. That would be embarrassing.)

Is it possible this is one of those things where several varieties go by the same name? When I was a kid, I told everyone I hated green beans, except Del Monte brand, which I liked. Everyone told me I was nuts and that they were all the same thing, until one day I happened to mention this to my grandfather (who was a food broker and thus knew a bit more about green beans than the average person), and instead of telling me I was nuts he said, "Well, Del Monte only cans Blue Lake variety. It could be that you like Blue Lake variety green beans and not the others." Sure enough he was right -- I found some store brand Blue Lake green beans and they were the good stuff.

The point being, maybe the terms "butter beans" and "lima beans" actually do refer to something slightly different. Anyone have any further information or insights?

- Logan

Reply to
Logan Shaw

I've never seen frozen limas, either baby or Fordhook, for over $2.50/lb. $4 a pound is shocking. I usually get the regular Fordhook limas since I find the baby ones kind of tasteless and mushy. Here in my part of the midwest, they're on sale once or twice a year for $1/bag. We love them so I usually buy ten bags when they're on sale. In the garden, we usually plant pole limas since they are a long-season crop. They usually do well but last year, with the drought, ours failed and the deer managed to overcome our defense system. For growing, I recommend the Christmas/speckled pole variety and sturdy tripods at lest

6 feet high. We'd had very good luck with that one.

We like ours plain with just butter or mixed with corn cut off the cob (especially grilled corn). Just a tiny bit of bacon added during cooking gives them a lot of flavor. Fresh limas, right out of the garden, are just fabulous.

Emma

Reply to
Emma Thackery

I really hope someday to have the opportunity to have fresh limas. The same goes for blackeyed peas.

Steve

Reply to
Steve Pope

*drool*

Guess I'm running to the store before dinner....

Penelope

Reply to
Penelope Periwinkle

Lima beans are slightly more expensive than some other beans because their pods contain slightly fewer beans on average than say pinto beans... that said dried limas don't cost more than most dried beans. Fresh frozen limas are expensive but so would any fresh frozen bean be just as expensive, which is why therre is a very limited selection of fresh frozen beans. Beans being high in protein they are more apt to freezer burn than other frozen veggies... and frozen limas are not very popular anyway so they don't sell well and so they spoil, and so those who buy them pay for the waste. If price is a concern then use dried... all canned beans are made from dried. And butter bean is just another name for lima bean. But lima beans and baby lima beans are indeed different beans.

Sheldon

Reply to
Sheldon

Sheldon

Oh man, I wish you hadn't told me that. :-(

Don

Reply to
Don K

If you're going to cook them you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between fresh picked and fresh frozen, in fact it can't be done. The only way to appreciate fresh picked beans of any type is to eat them raw, in salads or marinated. Except for some ethnic markets you won't usually find fresh hull beans in the produce section simply because few people are going to eat raw fresh beans. Most people will only eat them cooked, so they may as well buy fresh frozen.

Sheldon

Reply to
Sheldon

Ohhhhh.... fresh black-eyed peas are one of the best things from the garden and absolutely nothing like frozen or canned. And, the best news is that they are very easy to grow. We plant a lot of them and they are a very sturdy. lush and prolific if you keep them picked. It's best to tend to or pick them early in the morning before the wasps start buzzing around them. Never, ever spray them because the wasps are beneficial & pollinators. This is a crop that nearly takes care of itself. They grow best planted in 3-4 foot wide rows or slightly raised beds. Pick them when the pods start to thin but before they turn yellow or start to dry. Yum yum.

Emma

Reply to
Emma Thackery

Not technically the same. The term is used kind of like "broad beans" I think. I can't recall the taxonomy but, in my experience, butter beans are a different species. The ones we've grown are kind of brownish, not green like limas. And btw, fresh Blue Lake string beans are among my favorites too.

Emma

Reply to
Emma Thackery

Me too, I forgot about dried limas. I have all the stuff to make this, will put the limas on my shopping list. Thanx George...!!!

Reply to
Gregory Morrow

Some interesting information here:

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Reply to
Chloe

it contains incorrect information.

For correct bean information go here:

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here:

lima bean [LY-muh] This New World bean was named for Lima, Peru, where it was found as early as 1500. There are two distinct varieties of lima - the Fordhook and the baby lima (and Fordhooks are not adult baby limas). Both are pale green, plump-bodied and have a slight kidney-shape curve. The Fordhook is larger and plumper than the baby lima. It also has a fuller flavor than its smaller relative. Fresh limas are available from June to September. They're usually sold in their pods, which should be plump, firm and dark green. The pods can be refrigerated in a plastic bag for up to a week. They should be shelled just before using. Frozen lima beans are available year-round and are labeled according to variety (Fordhook or baby). Canned and dried limas are usually labeled "jumbo," "large" or "small," a designation that relates to size and not variety. In the South, dried limas are frequently referred to as butter beans . When mottled with purple they're called calico or speckled butter beans . A traditional way to serve limas is with corn in SUCCOTASH. They're also used alone as a side dish, in soups and sometimes in salads. Lima beans contain a good amount of protein, phosphorus, potassium and iron. The lima is also called the Madagascar bean . See also BEAN.

=A9 Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.

Reply to
Sheldon

I grew lima beans when I was 9 years old in a small plot (about 2 short, maybe 3 foot rows of them) when we lived in Virginia. It was surprisingly easy but I was doing it for a science experiment which required me to dissect the beans to show how the shoots would eventually come up to sprout flowers and then make new plants. If a 9 year old can do it, you can. Provided you have the right soil, I guess. And before you ask, I didn't do anything more than water the tiny plants and wait for the beans to appear on the plants. I never added any sort of fertilizer; nothing like that. I was a curious kid. I just checked my plants every day and made sure they were okay. They were. On a larger scale I'm sure you'd have more to think about.

You can do a lot with lima beans if you like them. Add them to soups and stews. Dry them for later use. Or just briefly boil or steam them and serve them with butter. Maybe some grated cheese. I've never gotten fancy with lima beans.

Jill

Reply to
jmcquown

When I was five years old I poked a lima bean up each nostril and had to be taken to a doctor to have them removed. Is that considered fancy? LOL

Sheldon

Reply to
Sheldon

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