LIMA BEAN DIP WITH GARLIC AND FETA CHEESE

This delicious Lima Bean Dip with Garlic and Feta Cheese is a perfect starter for a Spring dinner party.  I prepared it recently when I had a birthday dinner party for a girlfriend. This dip also has a lovely fresh hint of lemon.  Serve it with a crudite of garden fresh veggies and you have a yummy and healthy appetizer.  The lima beans are full of fiber, protein, iron and calcium, and, with the addition of lemon, it contains loads of vitamin C too.

Fresh lima beans can be purchased in the summer months, but they are sold year round dried, canned and frozen.  For this recipe, I used a 1 pound bag of frozen lima beans because they cook quicker than the dried form and have a fresh green color.  To get started making this recipe, I cooked the frozen beans in salted, boiling water for about 5 minutes until they were tender.  I recommend that you cook yours according to the package instructions.

Drain the cooked lima beans, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.  I have this handy dandy strainer that has a fitted base that catches the drained liquid.  I wish I could tell you where to buy one, but this was given to me as a gift and I have not seen one like it anywhere.  Next, place the beans in a bowl of ice water.  This stops the cooking process, cools the beans and helps to preserve their bright green color.

Then, drain the lima beans once again and place them in a food processor.  In this case, I used my mini processor.

Mince 4 cloves of fresh garlic and grate 1 teaspoon of lemon zest.

Using the lemon you just zested, squeeze 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice……

and add it to the lima beans.

Then toss in the minced garlic and lemon zest.

Pour in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.

Turn on the food processor and pulse it a few times.  Then, using a rubber spatula, give the beans a little stir to help things along.  Otherwise the beans on the bottom of the processor will get over processed while the ones on the top tend to stay on top.  At this point you can add in a couple of tablespoons of the reserved cooking liquid.  Add more cooking liquid if you wish, enough to thin the beans to your desired consistency.

Now grind in some fresh pepper and add Kosher salt to taste.  Give it another few pulses in the food processor to combine.

Transfer the beans to a small mixing bowl and fold in 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese.

Transfer the Lima Bean Dip to a serving bowl and garnish it with a sprig of parsley or cilantro.

I think this dip goes really well with crispy fresh jicama…..

and sweet, crunchy carrot sticks.

The carrots I used came right out of my CSA farm fresh veggie delivery.

I also included some sliced cucumber and crackers for dipping.  Everyone at the Birthday Dinner Party loved this dip.  It tastes like it is sinfully delicious, when in reality, it is quite a nutritious appetizer.  And, since I was serving lots of other delicious things next, it was light enough not to fill up my guests before dinner.

So stay tuned, because, in my next post, I will be sharing another delicious and healthy dinner party recipe for Creamy Asparagus Soup.

Until next time……

 

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