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Marinated Gigante Beans Meze'

by:
July 23, 2013
5
1 Ratings
  • Serves 8
Author Notes

One of (many) of my favorite things when traveling in Turkey and Greece is their meze', similar to Italian antipasta and our appetizers. Briny cheeses, eggplant, hummus and fresh vegetables or beans in herb laden olive oil are among the choices. If you are like me, you always want to know exactly what is in that marinade and is it healthy and can I make something sorta like it. The gigantes are not so easy to find (especially in Calistoga) but can be ordered from purcellfarms.com. If it is impossible to find gigantes, you can sub butter beans (but it will not be the same). —dymnyno

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Ingredients
  • 2 cups gigante beans
  • 1 tablespoon shallots, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, leaves only, finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, leaves only, finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon heaping, sun dried tomatoes, finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon heaping, Kalamata olives, finely minced
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 4 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
  • salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Soak the beans overnight. Drain and rinse and put into a deep pot. Cover with at least 2 inches of water.
  2. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for one to two hours or until tender. (will depend on the freshness of the beans. Add more water as needed to prevent burning)
  3. Drain and cool.
  4. Add all the remaining ingredients into a jar and shake or whisk together..
  5. Pour the dressing over the cooled beans and toss to distribute the dressing.
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9 Reviews

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MilletteofSd January 15, 2023
Thank yo al for the supportive comments. Although I’m based out West, the retailer, Rancho Gordo has a bean named ROYAL CORONA BEAN and I am partial to Bob’s Red Mill which they offer the Large Lima Beans. I’m excited to recreating the recipe.
Nancy June 15, 2022
Reviewing again after 6 years! This is still an amazing Meze and I'm still making it! I don't understand why so few have tried it. But everyone always loves this and it is so very good!
Lclk December 5, 2022
I’ve been looking for a marinade for Gigante/Royal Corona beans and just found this one. I’m making it for our “Russmas” on 12/24/22. My husband’s birthday celebration that our daughter dubbed this name. I made a makeshift version before using Garlic Expressions and just adding various things to it and it was good but I didn’t save the information of what I did. I appreciate Nancy’s reviews and will be making it this way—maybe with a few tweaks. We’ll see how it goes. Thanks to Dymnyno for the original recipe and to Nancy for your reviews. Many folks that I know don’t know anything about these large beans and are Wowed by them. I love to include them on appetizer spreads.
Nancy March 25, 2016
I doubled this and wish I had quadrupled it! Serving with charred bread to soak up the delicious oil. The gigante beans came from a Greek grocery here in Minneapolis. At $10 a pound and all the fresh herbs this isn't the most budget friendly recipe but totally worth it! The tomatoes will soften but they are minced up so no problem. Mine were by Alessi and came in a plastic package, not on oil. This is an amazing addictive recipe!
LeBec F. February 12, 2015
this is just terrific, dy! have you tried it using chicken stock? are the sun dr tomatoes dried or in oil? (if dried, will they soften on their own or should i poach them?) Th you!
sage A. July 23, 2013
Do they grow in the US?
dymnyno July 29, 2013
I don't know where they grow. I ordered from purcellfarm.com
drhevrin April 13, 2021
Rancho Gordo is my source for beans. They grow their beans in Central California, Oregon, Washington and New Mexico & small farms in Mexico for their really rare crops through the Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project. Their products are stellar and a great company.
dymnyno April 13, 2021
Totally agree!!!
I live in the Napa Valley and their store is in Napa.
I don’t think they carried the beans when I worked on this recipe.