On the Greek table, vegetable dishes called ladera are not intended as sides. These meals put vegetables center stage, often involving legumes braised in olive oil and tomato — plus plenty of bread to sop up the juices.
For that, you can thank the Orthodox Christian faith, which calls for meat- and dairy-free diets 40 days before both Easter and Christmas, as well as two weeks in August, plus every Wednesday and Friday the rest of the year. But the tradition has permeated the broader culture, with dishes such as gigantes plaki enjoyed in taverns and homes.
This much-loved Greek dish, which is essentially a slightly more elaborate version of baked beans, braises enormous gigante white beans in a savory tomato sauce with copious extra-virgin olive oil for richness. The sauce typically is assembled on the stovetop, and once the dried gigantes are soaked and added to the sauce, the dish bubbles to completion in the oven.
In this version from our book “Tuesday Nights Mediterranean,” which features weeknight-friendly meals from the region, we use canned butter beans for ease and speed. Since we’re using canned beans, we can keep all the cooking on the stovetop using just one pan.
