Fricassee of Lima Beans

° Serves 4

I always have packaged frozen lima beans on hand for use in quickly prepared fricassees like this one. The dish is ready to eat in about 15 minutes.

The beans are flavored with Canadian bacon, but ham would be good too. Canadian bacon tends to be salty, so don’t add any salt to the dish until you’ve tasted it near the end of the cooking period.

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 ounces Canadian bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces (about ¾ cup)
• 1 onion (4 ounces), peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
• ½ teaspoon herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning
• One 10-ounce package frozen baby lima beans
• Salt to taste
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan. Add the Canadian bacon and onion and sauté over medium-to-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the bacon is nicely browned.

Meanwhile, place the frozen lima beans in a sieve and run them under warm tap water to thaw them slightly and to remove any ice particles. Add the beans to the mixture in the saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and cook, covered, over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Add salt if needed, and the pepper and serve.

Made with frozen lima beans, this dish is ready to eat in 15 minutes.