Foody Friday Butter Beans

The Foody Friday thing that Jenny at A Latte Talk started sounded like so much fun that I decided to join in. My recipe could be used as a side dish or as a main dish. It is a Southern dish that is one of my husband's family's favorites and they are from Oklahoma. When my husband first said he was going to fix me butter beans, I didn't know what that was. When he told me it was cooked large dried Lima Beans, I wasn't too thrilled. My only exposure to Lima Beans was when I was a kid and my mom cooked green lima beans from the garden and I hated them!! Part of the hatred came from being required to eat them even if it took me an hour, gagging all the way. But I lived through it =) All my mom's good intentions on getting us kids to eat our vegetables did not work on Lima Beans!! I liked all my vegetables but as an adult I would pick the green lima beans out of mixed vegetables and throw them away. I'm telling you all this to say I was converted about Lima Beans when I ate this dish for the first time. It is yummy and you feel so good after you eat them! I have embellished a little bit from the original recipe. So, here you have Ma Cardwell's Butter Beans:

Ma Cardwell's Butter Beans

1 lb bag of large white dried lima beans
1 country style pork rib (or meat of choice)
1/2 chopped white onion
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 package of Lipton's dried soup mix
2 drops of smoke flavoring
Low sodium chicken broth


Soak beans over night in a bowl of water covering beans. Drain beans and put in a slow cooker and pour chicken broth over it until it covers the beans. Chop the country style rib into small pieces and brown in a skillet and add to beans. Add 1 pkg of dried onion soup mix, 1/2 white onion chopped, 1/2 tsp of minced garlic and smoke flavoring. Mix thoroughly and set on a medium heat for a slow cooker or a low heat on the stove and let cook for 8 hours. Stir occasionally. Enjoy!