Lebanese Lima Bean Stew - Fasolia
Prep time 15 minutes | Cook time 90
Fasolia is a delightful Lebanese lima bean stew, and one of my very favorite Lebanese Recipes. Delicious all year round, it is especially perfect as a warming vegan winter stew recipe. This rich and hearty dish features butter beans, making it not only a comforting choice but also a fantastic source of iron, which can sometimes be difficult to get in a plant-based diet. It is also heart healthy, rich in fiber and vitamin C, and a good source of complete protein when served over rice.
Made with only a few simple ingredients, fasolia is super easy to prepare. This Mediterranean dish offers a healthy meal option that's both satisfying and nutritionally dense. Fasolia celebrates Arabic food traditions while being a perfect vegan dinner entree.
Ingredients
1 cup dried lima beans or 4 cups of canned lima beans
2 tablespoons plant-based butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 to 1/2 cup tomato paste
Salt
Pepper
Lebanese All-spice
Parsley (for garnish)
Cooked white or brown rice for serving
Instructions
If you are using dried beans rinse one cup of dried lima beans, put them in a large bowl, and add enough water to cover them. Add about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt to the soaking water. Soak the beans overnight or for at least 8 hours. Once they are soaked rinse them well.
If you are using canned beans rinse 4 cups of canned lima beans, also called butter beans, very well.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons of plant-based butter to a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Allow the plant-based butter to melt.
Chop 1 small-medium yellow onion (about 1 cup) and add it to the oil and butter mixture.
Saute the onion over medium-low heat for about 8 minutes until it is translucent and just beginning to brown.
Add in your rinsed lima beans.
Add enough water to cover the lima beans by about 2 inches - with 4 cups of beans this is about 6 cups of water.
Bring your lima beans and onion mixture to a simmer.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt.
Add 1 to 2 small pinches of Allspice. Allspice is strong, so if this is your first time making this recipe start with 1 pinch (about 1/4 teaspoon) and add more later if you think the dish needs it.
If you used dried beans, let the lima beans simmer over medium-low heat for about 75 to 90 minutes mostly covered. Be sure to check the beans to make sure there is still water in the pan - add more if it steams off, or just simmer with the pan covered stirring occasionally.
If you used canned lima beans, let the beans and spices simmer over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of tomato paste - add enough and mix well so that your stew is a bright red color. Check out my YouTube video to see the desired color.
Let the stew cook for another 30 minutes uncovered so that the stew thickens. Check out my YouTube video to see the desired thickness - you want there to be enough sauce to pour over the rice but you don’t want it to be too thin. Be sure to stir your stew gently every 10 or so minutes.
Go ahead and test your beans to make sure they are tender before you eat them!
To serve, pour over rice and top with chopped parsley. Traditionally this is served over Ben’s white rice, but brown rice will add more protein and B vitamins
Notes and Adjustments
In Lebanese cooking Fasolia is sometimes made with lamb meat - thankfully my grandmother always made the vegetarian version. To add more protein I will often make this recipe with Impossible Meat. If you would like to do this simply add the Impossible Meat into the sauteed onion when it is translucent, and saute the Impossible Meat for about 5 minutes.
I often will add extra greens to this recipe to add a boost of calcium - my motto is you can never have too many greens in your diet! I love to add chopped kale or spinach in at the very end. Let the greens cook down for about 5 minutes and serve over rice.
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