I am flush with corn from our Bryn Clovis Farm CSA in Malvern, Pennsylvania, this summer, which means I’m always looking for new ways to use it. Succotash seemed like a particularly good answer.

I didn’t grow up eating lima beans. My stepfather, Mark T, had a bad lima bean experience as a child and didn’t like them, which meant they never made it into our house. I suspect he wasn’t alone. I discovered—and learned to love—lima beans as an adult.

Fresh lima beans can be surprisingly difficult to find, even at the height of summer. Fortunately, last year I discovered Rancho Gordo dried beans from Napa, California (thank you, Julie S!). If you like dried beans, I highly recommend ordering from Rancho Gordo. They offer an impressive assortment of heirloom beans, and everything I’ve tried has been delicious. I recently purchased The Bean Book, which contains more than 100 recipes for cooking with their beans (although you could certainly substitute other beans).

For this succotash, I used Rancho Gordo Large White Lima Beans. Their Green Baby Lima Beans would work equally well—just use the same amount.

Along with the corn, our CSA provided cherry tomatoes, onions and basil—all the makings of a colorful summer succotash.

What makes this California-style? Admittedly, there’s no official California succotash rulebook. It has a West Coast spin with pancetta, lime juice, feta cheese and plenty of fresh herbs. I used mostly basil with some mint and loved getting an occasional bite of mint among all that basil. Cilantro would be good here, too.

This is wonderfully fresh and perfectly seasonal, but I’m also planning ahead. I cooked the entire batch of lima beans and froze what I didn’t need, and I have plenty of summer corn tucked away in the freezer. I’m looking forward to making this again in the depths of winter when something bright, sunny and summery is especially welcome.

It’s also quite adaptable. For a vegetarian version, omit the pancetta and use olive oil. For vegan, leave out both the pancetta and feta.

My only regret? My cherry tomatoes were orange and yellow. Red would have added a bit more pop, although these were absolutely delicious.

We served this with grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs—a simple partner for a side dish with lots of flavor.

Random fact, lima beans are named for Lima, Peru. But despite that origin, the standard spelling for the bean is lowercase ‘lima bean.’

For a more traditional version of this summer classic, see my Farmers Market Succotash recipe.

California-Style Succotash

A fresh succotash spin

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Course Side Dish

Servings 6

Ingredients

4 ounces pancetta, cubed see Notes
1/2 medium sweet onion, diced
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
4 ears of corn kernels removed, (~ 2 cups corn)
2 cups cooked and drained fresh or dried Lima beans see Notes
1 pound 16 ounces cherry tomatoes, quartered
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 to 3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup fresh basil, cut chiffonade-style
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

In a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, add the pancetta and cook until it’s browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta to a paper-towel covered plate and set aside. Drain off all but 1-1/2 tablespoons of fat. (Alternatively, drain the fat and use 1-1/2 tablespoons of olive oil.)
Add the onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally for 1 minute.
Add the jalapeño pepper and corn, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn is tender, about 5 minutes.
Gently stir in the Lima beans, tomatoes, and pancetta. Cook until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes.
Taste and season with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from the stove.
Add lime juice to taste, stirring gently to combine.
Gently stir in feta, basil and mint.

Notes

You can use the same amount of bacon in place of the pancetta.
You’ll want to pre-cook the lima beans first as this recipe simply heats up pre-cooked beans (dried or fresh). Dried: I used 3/4 cup (~ 5 ounces) dried Rancho Gordo Large White Lima Beans (you can use the same amount of Rancho Gordo Green Baby Lima Beans). Follow Cooking Dried Beans to prepare them. Fresh: You can also use 2 cups (~ 12 ounces) fresh, shelled Lima beans. To cook, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the shelled lima beans and reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook until tender but not mushy, generally 10 to 20 minutes, depending on their size and maturity. Very young baby lima beans may take less time.
You can use cilantro in place of the basil and mint. I don’t recommend mixing cilantro and mint. You can also use Cotija in place of feta for the cheese.
Make this vegetarian by omitting pancetta and using olive oil and vegan by omitting pancetta and feta cheese and using olive oil.