Greek Baked Beans (Gigantes Plaki)

Dried beans cooked Greek-style until creamy with tomatoes and warm spices, a fresh, healthy alternative to American-style sugar-heavy baked beans for parties, potlucks and okay sure, even for dinner. :-) These beans are cooked in the oven instead of on the stove, no more boiling over a pot of beans!

Real Food. Low Cal. Weight Watchers Friendly. Naturally Gluten Free. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

Let's Talk Beans, Dried Beans.

So, people, dried beans. Who cooks them on the stovetop? Me, I did too!

But almost every time, yikes, I would get distracted and the stove would be too hot and the beans would spill over. WHAT A MESS! You turn the heat down and carry on, of course but oh that stove is a total mess, really hard to scrub clean!

Once, even, I didn't clean the stove for a couple of days. We had a condo near the beach for a few days and somehow, surprise-surprise, beach-walking and shrimp-cooking and key-lime-pie-tasting outranked cleaning a messy stove. Yikes. WHAT A STINKY MESS!

So I experimented with cooking dried beans in the oven instead of on top of the stove. What an easy, no-mess, no-fuss solution!

You still pre-soak the beans, this hydrates the beans, makes them sweet and tender. Then it's time to actually cook them. First, bring the beans to a boil on the stovetop. This gets the water and the beans and the pot hot-hot-hot and shortens the cooking time in the oven. Then the pot goes into the oven and the beans cook away, no spilling over!

For even cooking, I do find it's helpful to stir the beans on occasion while they're in the oven. Otherwise the beans on top cook less than the beans on the bottom.

So far, I've cooked dried chickpeas, dried black beans and dried giant lima beans (several times) in the oven. All worked perfectly! It's a good system, cooking dried beans in the oven!

Anyone Interested?

So are you intrigued about the idea of cooking beans in the oven instead of on the stove? It's sure working for me!

Don't They Just Sound So Good? And Look So Pretty?

GREEK BAKED BEANS, I just love the sound of this! The ultra-creamy bean and tomato combination is magnificent. And even though there's no cheese in Greek Baked Beans (unless you sprinkle a little feta on top, like I love to, just to finish), you'll swear they're full of cheese. But they're not!

Here's what you'll need to make them.

• Dried Beans I use large lima beans, look for them in one-pound bags in a section near the canned baked beans.
• Onion, Carrot, Celery & Garlic For flavor and texture.
• Canned Tomato & Tomato Paste For flavor, a touch of acidity and the luscious "umami" (savory deliciousness) that makes certain foods taste so good.
• Warm Spices For flavor, Greek Baked Beans use rich spices, smoked paprika, oregano and rosemary, all spices one can imagine finding in the wild on Greek islands.
• Feta & Fresh Oregano These are added just before serving, making the dish just look prettier but also adding a touch of contrasting creaminess and freshness.
• That's It! Cool, eh?

COMPLIMENTS!

• "... end result was wonderful ... now filed in our gold recipes." ~Paula
• Ready to cook? Here's your recipe!

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GREEK BAKED BEANS (GIGANTES PLAKI)

Hands-on time: 35 minutes
Time to table: 11 hours
Makes 8 cups, easily halved

BEANS
• 1 pound (454g) dried large lima beans
• 1 tablespoon table salt (no skipping, no skimping!

TOMATO MIXTURE
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced small
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced small
• 1 rib celery, diced small
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• Sprinkle cayenne
• 28 ounces (800g) canned diced tomatoes
• Salt & pepper to taste

TO FINISH
• Feta cheese (about 1 ounce/30g), crumbled
• Fresh oregano, a few leaves

BEANS - SOAK OVERNIGHT Rinse the beans in a colander to remove any dust and grit, then place in a bowl that allows for the beans to almost double in size. Cover with water plus three or four inches more. Soak the beans overnight, at least 8 hours. In the morning, if any beans are sticking out of the water (and thus haven't soaked up liquid), discard them. Drain the beans, then rinse under running water.

BEANS - START ON THE STOVE, THEN COOK IN THE OVEN Set oven to 250F/120C. In a large, heavy pot, cover the beans plus an inch or two of water. Stir in the salt, no forgetting! On the stovetop, bring the beans to a boil and boil hard for 2 minutes. Cover and transfer to the oven. As the beans cook in the oven, stir them occasionally. Cook until the beans are soft and fully cooked but not breaking apart into mush, that's 60 to 90 minutes. Be sure they're fully cooked, then drain the beans.

TOMATO MIXTURE In a large skillet, heat oil until shimmery. Add the onion, carrot and celery as they're prepped, sautée just until beginning to turn color. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and spices, let cook for 1 - 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cook just until hot. Season with salt and pepper.

COMBINE & BAKE Set oven to 350F/175C. Stir the drained beans into the Tomato Mixture. Transfer to an oven-safe shallow casserole dish. Bake uncovered for 1 hour until the beans are bubbly, the mixture has thickened and the edges are beginning to caramelize.

TO FINISH Sprinkle with feta cheese, if you like, put back into the oven to melt a bit. Sprinkle with oregano.

SERVE Serve hot from the oven as a side dish. Greek Baked Beans are also excellent warm and at room temperature so are especially good for a buffet or a potluck. They also make an excellent appetizer, just supply slices of baguette for schmearing.

ALANNA's TIPS Truth be told, there are indeed particular dried beans called "gigantes" from Greece, gigantes means "giant"! If you like, order the real (albeit pricey) thing from Amazon. I've only used dried "large lima beans" which themselves may be difficult to find. But yes, look for bags of beans that read "large lima beans," that's the actual bean name. Substitutes: Look for cannellini beans, that's another white bean that gets creamy. Great Northern beans and Navy beans are also white beans but don't get as creamy when cooked. During tomato season, I'd consider substituting ripe summer tomatoes for the canned tomatoes. On occasion, I've added red bell pepper to the onion-carrot-celery mixture, it adds just a touch more color, nice! I've also been tempted, once the dish comes out of the oven fully cooked, to stir in some tender leaves of spinach just before adding the feta. Wouldn't that be pretty?! If you happen to have an old bottle of ouzo, the licorice liqueur from Greece (believe it or not, I do, it gets used a tablespoon at a time for biscotti every couple of years so will last a lifetime or more), join me in trying this version of Gigantes Plaki. Wikipedia says here that in Greece, Gigantes Plaki is cold-weather food. That's so funny because to me, Greek Baked Beans are totally summery!

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Half Cup: 86 Calories; 1g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 1mg Cholesterol; 518mg Sodium; 22g Carb; 11g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 6g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 1 & Points Plus 3 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 1 & myWW green 2 & blue 1 & purple 1. CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 9 tablespoons (4g protein).

I first learned about Greek Baked Beans from my dear friend Pille from Estonia more than two years ago, here's her recipe. I've been making them ever since!

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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