One of the things I missed when I first moved to the Netherlands was, of course, traditional Greek food. At first I thought that I won't be able to find all of these different materials and spices that I needed to create my favorite dishes. But, with a little determination and a lot of google translate, I discovered many of them in the markets of Amsterdam. Thanks to capitalism you can find almost everything in the dutch supermarkets.

The happiest discovery for me was lima beans and here is the recipe for "Easy peasy & delicious Baked Beans".

What will we need, where we can find it & who much does it cost

- 700 grams of lima beans [ You can find: AH - Costs: 2.50 euros per 900 gr pack ]

- 1 bunch of celery [ You can find: In most of the markets or at your local Supermarket - Costs: approximately 1 euro per bunch ]

- A lot of Dill - (Άνιθο) [ You can find: ΑΗ or at your local Supermarket - Dutch word is dille - You can also use dried ]

- 1 tomato juice [ You can find: At any local Supermarket, Costs: 0.28 euro at ΑΗ & Vomar ]

- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes [ You can find: At any local Supermarket, Costs: 0.39 euro at ΑΗ & 0.28 at Vomar ]

- 3 onions [ You can find: At any local Supermarket ]

- 2 to 3 carrots [ You can find: At any local Supermarket ]

- 1 sausage [ You can find: At any local Supermarket ]or 2 cubes of beef or chicken for flavor [ You can find: At any local Supermarket, Costs: 0.40 euro at Lidl ]

- Salt and 1 spoon of sugar

- Extra virgin oil [ You can find: At any local Supermarket - The cheapest price is 3.72 euros per liter ]

How we do it

Cover the beans with water in a bowl from the previous night. Let the beans soak all the water. After that drain remaining water and boil them in a pot with water and salt, until there are tender, but not overcooked. Drain them and put them in a pan or a pyrex when ready.

Cook a red sauce with celery, dill, tomato juice and fresh tomato or chopped tomatoes as for pasta. You let the mix boil for a while, 8-10 minutes on low heat. As a result we want to have a liquid mixture.

You put the beans together with the sauce and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Stir from time to time, in order to cook evenly. Add water during cooking if you see that the food is getting dry.

And you are done! Total cost for 1 tray: approximately 4 euros!

Feta and hot bread are "mandatory"! Feta is mandatory to eat but it is so difficult to find a good one. In most supermarkets you can find "white" cheese cubes in olive oil with oregano, Greek names and images of the Aegean sea at their packaging. If you do not notice the word Feta written anywhere then it is white Greek style cheese and not Feta. So look out!

You can also read the whole recipe in greek, plus some very useful tips for the sause and the cooking procedure at http://koliri84.blogspot.nl/