{"id":5428,"date":"2015-09-22T18:53:20","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T18:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=5428"},"modified":"2015-09-22T18:53:20","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T18:53:20","slug":"grilled-squid-oregano-lemon-lima-beans-with-mint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=5428","title":{"rendered":"grilled squid, oregano, lemon; lima beans with mint"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"squid_lima_beans_2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I actually was a little disappointed that the lima beans<\/a> didn’t retain the hues they showed when they first came out of their pods (see below), but the earth and woodsy tones of their\u00a0river stone disguises pretty much made up for it.<\/p>\n

I was new to cooking this ancient South American vegetable as a fresh ingredient, having limited myself until now almost exclusively to working with its\u00a0frozen form, and that was decades ago. \u00a0When I picked them up at the Union Square Greenmarket I thought preparation would be a cinch, but once home I\u00a0found almost nothing about limas (or butter beans, an alternative\u00a0name for the legumes) in any of my cookbooks and, as I was interested in something minimal, almost nothing useful on line. \u00a0To illustrate my dilemma, one site outlined\u00a0at least three major steps for extracting the bean, and a cooking process that would have stretched on far beyond an hour’s time. \u00a0It was only when I turned to\u00a0my half-century-old copy of \u00a0Craig Claiborne<\/a>‘s classic opus, ‘The New York Times Cookbook’ [$25 new here<\/a>; $10 to $15 here<\/a>, at Strand],\u00a0that I was finally reassured about both the ease and the simplicity\u00a0with which\u00a0these delicious beans could be prepared.<\/p>\n

Both peas and beans can vary in size, tenderness, and freshness, so it may not always be easy to prescribe cooking times or amounts to buy (especially when they are being purchased in the shell or pod), and there is also the question of individual tastes. Claiborne’s\u00a0short entry reads, simply,\u00a0“Place the [shelled] beans in a small amount of boiling water, cover and boil rapidly until tender, about twenty to thirty minutes.” [Note: I checked the beans while they were boiling, and ended draining them after\u00a0something closer to fifteen minutes] \u00a0He advised allowing two pounds – or more – for four servings. \u00a0I bought a pound of unshelled beans, and that would have been\u00a0more than enough for the two of us, except that they were so good; even as little as half of a pound might have been enough if there were another vegetable\u00a0on the plate.<\/p>\n

I decided to do little to interfere with their natural flavor, but, in addition to some olive oil, I did go for the addition of some chopped mint (Claiborne\u00a0had suggested butter and thyme), and, naturally, a squeeze of lemon, perhaps thinking the three might\u00a0convert the very American\u00a0lima bean\u00a0into\u00a0an Italian dish.<\/p>\n

One more thing. \u00a0Squid remains one of the least expensive of any seafood available\u00a0today; \u00a0the cost of two generous servings was far less than the cost of this excellent vegetable (a price I was totally happy to pay, even before their goodness had been fully confirmed and enjoyed).<\/p>\n