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Christmas Lima Bean Spread

A smooth spread made from cooked dried Christmas lima beans, onion, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Christmas Lima Bean Spread

Timeabout one hour and twenty-five minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Peel the onion and chop coarsely.

  2. Peel the garlic cloves and crush with the side of a knife.

  3. In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the onion, garlic and beans.

Cook the beans

  1. Cover with two cups of stock and cook over medium-high heat until the beans are very soft and tender, about one hour and twenty-five minutes.

  2. When the beans are tender, remove from the heat and spoon into a bowl to cool.

Finish and chill

  1. Puree the cooled beans in a blender or food processor with the olive oil until creamy and smooth.

  2. Spoon the mixture into a large bowl and fold in the parmesan and parsley.

  3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

  4. Cover and refrigerate.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

551Calories
50 gProtein
25 gFat
32 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Lima Bean1/2 cup (85g) cooked108
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Olive + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,649 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Dried christmas lima beans
Provide the starch and body that become the creamy, thick spread when cooked and pureed.
Extra virgin olive oil
Adds fat and richness, giving the puree a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
Parmesan
Adds savory, salty depth and umami flavor to the spread.
Chicken or vegetable stock
Softens the beans as they cook and adds savory flavor to the base.

The step that matters

Cooking the beans until very soft. Dried beans must be cooked fully tender; undercooked beans stay grainy and will not puree into a smooth spread. Cooking in enough liquid keeps them from drying out and sticking.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, clove, chicken, olive, parsley):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Cashew nutfits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Lima beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, clove, chicken, olive, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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