Lemony Fennel with Lima Beans and Dill

More fennel, you ask? Yes, more fennel! Can’t stop, won’t stop. But I might have stopped if I hadn’t seen this recipe on Heidi’s blog. I was particularly taken with the “giant beans” part. The only way to improve upon beans is to make them GIANT, and they reminded me of my favorite Greek dish, gigantes (gigantic beans!) You can actually order said gigantic beans dried here in the US, but they are pricey. Lima beans are a great substitute, and I am happy to be successfully cooking them in the pressure cooker again after the Lima Bean Incident of 2014.

I made a handful of changes to the recipe, but I’ll post the original one below. I juiced the lemon onto the fennel while it was cooking instead of slicing it and tossing it in as Heidi does. I needed a lemon explosion! And I left out the honey and white wine because I have aversions to them at the moment. But I am looking forward to trying this again in my non-pregnant days!

Giant Lemon Fennel Beans
Recipe from 101 Cookbooks

4-5 small fennel bulbs
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
Half a lemon, scrubbed and sliced or cut into wedges
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups cooked white beans (corona, cannellini, etc)
1/2 cup water (or reserved liquid from cooking the beans)
1/2 cup roughly chopped dill

-To prep the fennel, remove each bulb’s tough outermost layer. Trim each bulb’s base, and slice along the length into 1/2-inch thick wedges.

-In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. When the oil starts to ripple and move away from the center of the pan, add the fennel. Scatter the wedges across the surface of the pan rather than gathering them into a clump, and let them sit without stirring until the sides touching the pan caramelize and brown a bit, roughly 2 minutes or so. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes or so, until the fennel has cooked through. Add the honey, lemon, salt, and wine to the pan, stirring to combine. Let the wine heat and reduce for a minute or so before adding the beans and water. Cook until the beans are warmed through, about 5 minutes.

-These beans are good at just about any temp- hot, warm, or at room temperature. Serve topped with a big handful of chopped dill and a drizzle of your best olive oil.