Characteristics – Dry Baby Limas (Phaseolus lunatus) are rich-tasting dry beans from the same family as the fresh (or frozen) green baby limas, but they are almost invariably white. While green baby limas are usually grown to be picked fresh and frozen or canned, white baby limas are almost always dried in the field before harvesting. Both white and green baby limas are also related to large limas, but despite the "baby" name, they would never grow up to be large limas, no matter how long they were left on the vine or bush.
How and Where Grown – Baby Limas can be grown on either bushes or vines, depending on the variety, but in California they are most always grown in the great Central Valley between Fresno in the south through Colusa in the north. The baby lima is a good yielding variety of dry bean, and is well suited to California’s long summer days and long growing season. Growers generally plant the beans anywhere from late April to early June, and harvest them in September or October. Once the beans are mature, the plants are cut off at the root, put in "windrows" to dry, then harvested ten to fifteen days later, when they are hauled to cleaning and storage facilities that in California are called warehouses. There the beans are cleaned, graded, sacked and stored until the grower decides to sell them into the normal marketing channels–usually for dry packaging or canning. Some of the baby lima crop each year is sold to Japan, where the baby lima is used as a basis for a sweet confectionary paste known as "Anko". Now you know why baby limas are sometimes hard to find at your local supermarket–the Japanese are eating them like candy!
Uses and Recipes – Baby Limas are very versatile, making good soups and main dishes on their own and are a wonderful mixer with other beans and vegetables. The following is a list of 34 recipes using baby lima beans,
with the asterisks indicating those that are heart-healthy.
Soups
*6 Bean Soup
*Baby Lima and Whitefish Chowder
Bean and Sausage Soup
*Lima Clam Chowder
Oriental Style Bean Soup
Sheepherder's Hearty Soup
Tuscan Bean Soup
*Vegetarian Basque Soup
Salads
Baby Limas with Tomato and Basil
Company Mexicali Corn and Bean Salad
*Crunchy Apple, Bean "N" Cheese Slaw
Garlic and Herb Lima Salad
Italian Bean and Tuna Salad
Mediterranean Baby Lima Bean Salad
White Bean and Fettuccine Salad
Wild Rice and Baby Lima Salad
Entrees
Baby Lima Bean Cassoulet
Sausage Bake with Baby Limas
Sunshine Bean Casserole
Vegetarian Boston Baked Beans
Mexicana
Specialties/Appetizers
*Baby Lima Bean Cassoulet
Informal Fondue Party
Lamb Cassoulet
Sweet Onion Apricot Limas
*Vegetarian Boston Baked Beans
White Bean and Herb Pâté
Side Dishes/ Casseroles
Bean Souffle
Dilled Baby Limas and Rice
Lima Stroganoff
Pizza/ Pasta
One Pot Bean Pasta
Pasta with Broccoli and Beans
Succotash Pasta
Summer Tomato Sauce with Limas
