Herb scented lime bean soup

4 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1½ cup Dried large lima beans; picked over and rsoaked overnight in ample water to cover or speed soaked (p 185)
1 tablespoon Saffllower or canola oil
½ cup Coarsely chopped onion
3 cups Boiling water
1 teaspoon Fried chervil leaves or 1 finely chopped celery rib
½ teaspoon Dried rosemary
½ teaspoon Dried sage
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar; (opt) (up to 2)
2 tablespoons Minced fresh parsley
¼ Seeded amd chopped fresh plum tomatoes
9 minutes high pressure

Directions

Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure by Lorna Sass, published by William Morrow and Co.

Dried lima beans are a great boon to anyone on a quest for low fat creaminess. They have very thin skins that virtually dissolve in the pressure cooker, creating soup with an elegance and complex flavor that would suggest a much more labor intensive dish.

Don't consider the tomato and parsley garnishes optional. They add most welcome color and flavor to the final product. The soup has a lightness that sets it firmly in the first-course category. I like to follow it with a pasta dish.

Drain and rinse the limas, remove any loose skins and discard. Set aside.

Heat thye oil in the cooker. Cook the onion over med-high head, stirring frequently, for 1 miknute. Add the water (stand back to avoid sputtering oil), reserved limas, chervil, rosemary and sage.

Lock lid in place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 9 minutes. Allow pressure to come fown naturally or use a quick release method. Remoive4 the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excerss steam to escape.

Stir well as you add s&p, mashing a few dozen limas againsrt the side of the cooker to create a thick creamy testure. Add vin. if desired, to bring out gflavors. Serve in individual bowls, garnisking with parsley and tomaTO.

Tipe and Techniques (also from book) Large lima beans foam considerably when cooking. Owners of jiggle-top cookers should probably avoid this recipe. If you choose to try it, add 1 more tablespoon of oil to reduce the possibiliry of a bean skin being catapulted into the vent. Don't leave the kitchen while this soup is cooking; turn off the heat and put the cooker under cold running water if you hear any unusual hissing noises.

Don't be tempted to use baby limas in this recipe. Baby limas hold on more tightly to their skins and don't result in as creamy a final product.

Sarah's comments on the recipe: First, please forgive typos and abbreviations. I'm having editor troubless and can't see what I'm typing too well.

Second, whan I make this (I've got a jiggle top machine) I manually remove all the skins from the beans before I cook the soup. It sounds hard, but it's not after a good long soaking time -- they slip right off. Watch TV while you do it to make it seem quicker, though, ort something similarly brain-deadening.

Third, don't worry about the flavorings. We're lazyt and use a spice mix designed for stuffing chickens, it comes in a yellow box and I can't think of the name offhand. We don't even measure it... Lots of fresh ground pepper, too.

Fourth, don't worry if you don't have the garnishes. They're nice, biut you can use other things, too, like fresh red and yellow pepper diced up, or croutons, or even nothing... it's your soup...

Posted to JEWISH-FOOD digest V97 #336 by mort@... on Dec 29, 1997

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