Gigantes and spinach rice recipes?

A year or so ago I had the best meal of those huge limas in rich, but not-too-heavy, tomato sauce and a side of the spinach rice (spanakorizo?) at Costa's in Oak Brook. I've tried various recipes to duplicate the dishes, but not come very close (perhaps I need a better or more olive oil). Anyone here know the chef there and can ask for the recipes? Any favorite recipes you might have for these veggies?

I'm posting my personal invented recipe for gigandes. (It'll be in the next edition of Cook's Guide) Sorry it's not vegetarian, but could easily be made so. The grape molasses is a nice Middle Eastern ingredient but you could replace it with regular. I adore gigandes, but the hardest part is finding good quality dried beans that aren't shriveled and cracked. Let me know if you have a great source.

Gigandes with Giant Flavor

1/2 lb. gigandes dried beans
4 strips bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 T. grape molasses
2 tsp. oregano
3 to 4 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper

Make sure to purchase your beans from a store with a lot of turnover. The dried beans should be cream colored, not yellow, broken, or shriveled. Soak the beans, covered by twice the water, for 4 to 6 hours or overnight. They will soften and swell to double the size. (They don’t call ’em gigandes for nothing!)

Simmer the beans in water to cover until almost tender. This will take from 40 minutes to 1-1/2 hours, depending on the age of the beans. Add 1 teaspoon of salt toward the end and another when they are done. Drain the beans and refrigerate (for a day or two, if you like) until ready to finish cooking.

Sauté the bacon until crisp; remove, drain, and reserve. There should be about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan. If there is a lot more, pour some of it out. Preheat the oven to 350°. Sauté the onion until soft; add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the tomatoes, oregano, grape molasses, and a bit more salt (1 teaspoon) and pepper. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Mix the beans with the cooked tomato mixture in a casserole dish. Add 1/2 cup water (more if you want the beans to be soupy). Bake 45 minutes, until bubbly. Adjust seasonings and stir in crumbled bacon.

I lost my spanakoryzo when my computer died last week. When I get the correct controller to use my old hd in my new computer I'll print it. My version comes from my brother in law Yiannis and is a little more oilt than most restaruant version but when you crumble the feta on it, look out!