Lima Beans in Tomato Sauce

I am not a believer in New Year Resolutions but I do believe that we should always be striving to improve our health by eating better and exercising. Over the last year I have introduced more legumes and beans into our diets and I plan on continuing on this path in 2011. So to kick off the New Year I am sharing this bean recipe. We had this for dinner along with Tomato soup. I also had the beans the following day smashed on some toasted homemade bread. It was delicious.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups dried Lima beans
1 carrot, cut into to 5 or 6 chunks
1 celery stock, cut into 5 or 6 chunks
1/2 Spanish onion
3 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
1 bay leaf

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 Spanish onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T chopped fresh sage or oregano, which ever you have on hand
Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
3/4 cups fine chopped can tomatoes with juice
Salt & Pepper

1. Place the dry beans in a bowl and cover them generously with water and let them soak overnight. Drain the beans put in a large pot and add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Cook over medium to low heat and bring to a simmer slowly. Cover the pot and adjust the heat to a bare simmer. Cook until the beans are tender, about 1 hour or longer depending on their softness. Remove from the heat and let cool in their liquid. Remove and discard the vegetables and drain the beans reserving the liquid for later.

2. In a large frying pan on medium to low heat warm a 1/4 cup of olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, sage or oregano and the red pepper flakes and saute until the onion is soft about 10 minutes. Add the tomato & juice and bring to a simmer and cook stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Add a liitle of the bean liquid if the mixture becomes to dry.

3. Add the beans and enough of their liquid to just cover them. Season with salt and pepper anf bring to a simmer. Cover partially and simmer gently until the beans have absorbed most of the liquid, about 30 minutes.

4. Just before serving stir in a little additional olive oil for flavour.