Lima Bean Parmesan Finally!

This morning I woke up to my usual breakfast. Then around lunch time, Eve and I hit the farmer's market. We gathered our yummies and headed home to make lunch. I read a recipe earlier in the week for Baked Eggplant Fries. I am the only one in the house that likes eggplant, but I decided to make it for myself today with my freshly purchased eggplant straight from the market. It was super easy and would have complimented my veggie pizza burger splendidly, if only I had better timing in the kitchen.

As it turned out, the eggplant fries were dessert. To make these, slice your eggplant, dip it in Italian dressing and then bread crumbs, bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes and turn them half way through. Tasty!

Eve after eating an eggplant fry. I swear they are good! She's 7.

For dinner, I've been dying to try Lima Bean Parmesan. I think I've mentioned it in every post and tonight was it's night. All I can say is, I don't give a crap if you're vegetarian or not but you MUST try this dish. It was pure yummy goodness in my mouth. I'm posting the recipe below the pictures. I modified the sauce slightly. I used 28oz of Italian diced tomatoes. In the future, I would use more for more sauce because I served this over thin spaghetti and I like sauciness on my pasta. I also added more than just salt and pepper, such as basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper and then to make it Eve and Amy friendly, I blended it up. We do not care for chunky tomato sauce. It was totally worth the build up. Everyone ate it and Eve begrudgingly liked it. CRH went back for seconds.


Baked Lima Beans Parmigiana
From how to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

1 recipe Fast Tomoato Sauce(below)
4 cups fresh, frozen or cooked dry lima beans
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 cup cubed mozzerella(preferably fresh)
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 400

Use a tbs or so of the oil to grease a 2 qt souffle or gratin dish or a 9x13 baking dish.

Spread tomato sauce in the dish and spoon the beans on top. Spread the mozz cubes around evenly pressing them into the sauce and beans a bit. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and parm and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake until cheese is melted, sauce is bubbling and crumbs are brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Remove and sprinle with parsley and additional black pepper if desired. Can be served over rice or pasta.

Fast Tomato Sauce

3 Tbs olive oil or butter
1 med onion, chopped
1 24-32 oz can tomatoes drained and chopped (I'm lazy, I bought diced)
salt and fresh ground pepper

Heat olive oil in 12" skillet over med-high heat. Add onions and stir 2-3 minutes or until soft. Add tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes break up and the mixture comes together, thickening about 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
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