This is something I have discovered recently, after someone gave me a seedling. You cannot eat them raw and you have to get the beans out of the pods, but the beans are huge, about the size of a 20c piece, so it is easy to get a feed. I have a single plant that is going nuts right now. I am probably only getting 10% of the beans off it, despite cooking a large batch about once a week.

Apparently they have something in them that turns into cyanide when eaten if they are not cooked first. However I have also spoken to people who eat the young ones raw like snow peas, though I would not recommend it unless you really know what you are doing. I have no way of knowing if they are eating some other bean, like a sword bean.

I tried making them "butter bean" style, where some of the beans disintegrate and turn into a creamy sauce. But it did not work. Maybe you need a special variety. I am still working on the recipe, but this is the latest:

ingredients:
lima beans
bacon - small pack, but get the fattiest bacon you can find, as this is why you are using it - the fat adds flavour and helps stop it sticking
1 onion
lots of garlic, coarsely chopped (so it does not stick)
olive oil
leafy greens and herbs - I just used whatever I had growing - mustard greens, italian parsley, moringa, rosemary
more herbs - italian style mostly - cloves, cumin, coriander, allspice, turmeric and oregano
chilli and spicey herbs would go well, I find bacon fat helps to get the flavour on everything, but the people who like this dish the most at my place aren't into chilli

Pick a large mixing bowl full full of ripe pods. Either dried out and brown or starting to change colour. If they are still green, hold them up to the light to check the size of the beans inside. If they come out plain cream in colour, I assume that means I picked them too early. Most of them have a light pink pattern on them, changing to maroon if they have dried out.

Peel them and discard the pods and keep the beans in the mixing bowl. Throw out any that look weird. Rinse them, then soak the beans overnight. Any of the darker coloured beans that have shrunk should swell back up. Your bowl will probably be half full once they have expanded. Rinse them again.

Put a large pan on the stove and heat it up, and boil a full kettle of water. Pour the beans into the pan then add the kettle water once boiled. I start my timer once I add the boiling water.

Total cook time is 30 minutes - probably overkill, but the beans come out soft and I am paranoid about the poison.

Boil for 15 minutes. I do this so I don't have to stand there stirring them in the pan. Not sure if I lose much in the way of nutrients. At 15 minutes I tip out the water and put them back on the stove, then add oil while the last of the water boils away. You have to keep adding oil and stirring as it tends to stick.

Add the bacon, onion, garlic and any greens and herbs that need extra cooking (mustard - to get rid of the flavour, rosemary and moringa).

Add the more delicate leafy greens at 25 minutes - italian parsley.

Then add the herbs.

At 30 minutes turn the heat off, but keep stirring for a while as it will stick.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima_bean

Toxicity

Like many beans, raw lima beans are toxic (containing e.g. phytohaemagglutinin) if not boiled for at least 10 minutes. Canned beans can be eaten without having to be boiled first, as they are pre-cooked.[26]

The lima bean can contain anti-nutrients like phytic acids, saponin, oxalate, tannin, and trypsin inhibitor. These inhibit absorption of nutrients in animals and can cause damage to some organs. In addition to boiling, methods of roasting, pressure cooking, soaking, and germination can also reduce the antinutrients significantly.[27]


Nutrition

The most abundant mineral in the raw lima bean is potassium, followed by calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, and iron. When lima beans germinate, there is increased bioavailability of calcium and phosphorus.[27] Additionally, it is a good source of vitamin B6


https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7899208/are-raw-lima-beans-deadly-poisonous/


Why Is It Dangerous to Eat Raw Lima Beans?

Raw lima beans contain a compound called linamarin, which turns into cyanide when consumed. Though you're likely not sitting around eating raw lima beans, it's important to keep them away from children and to make sure that, when you are cooking them, you're doing it properly. Schapiro says cooking lima beans thoroughly is important because "when you cook lima beans, it destroys the enzymes that would release the cyanide."



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Phaseoulus_lunatus.jpg

they're good

chickpeas too

... sounds like a lot of hot air to me...... (ta-boom-tisssshhhh)

Chick peas - the french call them 'poor peas' - not as good as 'the real thing' - I love chick peas.

Qu'ils mangent des pois chiches !