lima bean and celery salad with hot-chili olive oil

btw: if your first introduction to lima beans involved some soggy frozen mixed veg,

please, be brave and try again.  they are a rich buttery delight, 'not to be missed'  -ha.

1 1/2 cups lima beans -soak, cook

1 cup celery -mince (some leaves and stalk)

1 med onion -mince (i prefer a red onion or mild white ones)

some garlic- as much as you want

1/4 cup olives -mince

chili infused olive oil

sea salt

fresh cracked pepper

soak lima beans overnight (12 hours or so) drain, rinse, cook and let cool.  mince the celery, onion, garlic, and olives (adjust amounts to your own flavor preference), mix in a large bowl with the hot chili olive oil.  if you dont have any hot-chili olive oil, make some yourself-  put minced fresh or dried chili in some olive oil for a few days.  use plenty of olive oil- this stuff is great for you and it takes plenty to make the salad nice and oily.  you dont want this salad to be dry.  throw in the lima beans, toss in some salt,  stir it all up and let it sit for a bit to kind of soak in.  before serving, crack that pepper over the top. 

the secret to this recipe is the mincing.  you gotta mince the onion, garlic, chiles and whatever additional ingredients you decide to add.  this way the flavor of the lima beans and celery comes through and the garlic/onion/olive just kind of hover around like sunrise colors. 

also, you should double or triple this recipe, since it keeps well and having a jar of it in the fridge can be great for guests- they'll think your 'really something' as my granny would say.  also, you may get hungry for it yourself- you'll see what i mean when you try it.