Ital Curried Button 'Shrooms

by Chef Troy Levy

As a young Rasta in Jamaican West Indies, we had a lot of options when it came to beans. For a Rasta, especially, beans and nuts were where we got a lot of our protein and we ate plenty of kidney beans, pinto beans with an orange-pink color with rust-colored specks, pigeon beans, and many others. But one of my favorites is lima beans, which are just awesome and great in this dish.

Prep time 10 minutes | Cook time 7 minutes | Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked lima beans and cooking water • 2 bay leaves • 2 to 3 cloves of garlic • 2 Tablespoons grapeseed oil or olive oil • 1 medium white onion, chopped in medium dice • 1 cup button mushrooms, cut in a medium dice • 1/2 cup carrot, cut in a medium dice • 1/2 cup red and green bell peppers, cut in a medium dice • 1 Scotch Bonnet peppers, add to taste • 1/4 teaspoon kelp power • 1/4 teaspoon fresh turmeric • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced • 1/4 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced • 1/4 teaspoon curry powder • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice • 1 to 1½ cups freshly juiced coconut milk • 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves • Himalayan pink salt, to taste • Young celery leaves or fresh herbs to garnish

Directions

1) You can cook the lima beans ahead if you want. Presoak them for at least 7 1/2 hours to allow them to expand in size and soften, which results in a faster cooking time. 2) Fill a large pot with water. Add the garlic cloves, bay leaves, and some Himalayan pink salt. Simmer, uncovered, for about 45 minutes (unsoaked lima beans can require up to 2 hours to be fully cook). 3) Cool. Drain but reserve a few cups of the cooking water. If you cook the lima beans in advance, freeze them until use, and thaw for a few hours before adding them to this dish. 4) Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onions, mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, and Scotch bonnet pepper.

Stir to coat with oil and sauté until the onions start to take on a sheen, in 1 ½ to 2 minutes. 5) Add the kelp, turmeric, ginger, and garlic. Cook for another minute. Then add the curry powder and cook for 2 minutes. Now add the allspice. 6) Add the coconut milk, stir, and allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Add thyme and cooked lima beans with some water leftover from cooking them. Stir well.

Add salt to taste. 7) Turn off the heat and served garnish, if you like, with young celery leaves or fresh herbs.